New FIDE President Elected
Timur Turlov Elected as FIDE's Youngest-Ever President in Uzbekistan General Assembly
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Kazakh businessman Timur Turlov, 38, was elected president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) at its General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, becoming its youngest-ever president and its first non-Russian leader in more than three decades. He defeated German entrepreneur Wadim Rosenstein 110–85 in a runoff after receiving 96 votes in the first round, short of the threshold for an outright win. Turlov succeeds Arkady Dvorkovich, who withdrew his bid for a third term after being included in an EU sanctions package; five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand was elected deputy president for the four-year term. Turlov has pledged to strengthen national federations, expand participation and modernize FIDE’s digital presence. He said Russian teams would remain subject to sports arbitration rulings barring their participation, while expressing hope that the Russian federation could eventually meet the conditions for a return; the election also took place amid debate over FIDE governance and the sport’s commercial future.
Key Points
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Turlov was initially expected to run as Arkady Dvorkovich’s deputy before launching his own presidential campaign.
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After the first round, eliminated candidate Jan Henric Buettner and his running mate endorsed Turlov; Chess.com reported that the endorsement helped lift Turlov’s vote to 110 in the runoff.
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Turlov is CEO of Freedom Holding Corporation, which the Indian Express described as an international financial-services group with a market capitalization of nearly $11 billion; the company had backed more than 20 major FIDE tournaments.
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In his acceptance speech, Turlov promised equal treatment for member federations, saying, “Every member federation, every person... will be treated equally well.”
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