Timur Turlov Becomes an Official Candidate for FIDE President: What His Election Platform Includes

Timur Turlov, President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and founder of Freedom Holding Corp., has officially announced his candidacy for President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Running alongside him in the elections, which will take place in Samarkand on September 26–27, is Viswanathan Anand, who is seeking the position of Deputy President. Anand has held this role since 2022. He is one of the most prominent chess players of the modern era, a former world champion and a five-time world champion in rapid and blitz chess.

The other two candidates for FIDE President are German nationals Vadim Rosenstein and Jan-Henric Buettner.

Turlov Plans to Scale Kazakhstan’s Experience Globally

Timur Turlov intends to apply the experience accumulated by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation over the past three and a half years at the international level.

“Over the past few years, chess has become a true passion and a personal project for me, one to which I have devoted a great deal of effort, time and resources. My work at the Kazakhstan Chess Federation is something I am deeply involved in and, at times, live and breathe just as much as my business,” Timur Turlov said.

According to him, the experience gained in Kazakhstan has demonstrated that the country’s chess development model can be scaled internationally. If elected, Turlov intends to focus on improving FIDE’s stability and transparency, developing the federation’s digital infrastructure and strengthening cooperation among national chess organizations.

“My goal is to bring greater stability, balance and mutual understanding to FIDE, as well as to make the federation more digital,” the businessman emphasized.

Digitalization, School Chess and Sustainable Funding

One of the key areas of his program is the introduction of artificial intelligence and the creation of a unified digital ecosystem connecting players, national federations, databases and educational content.

Another major priority is the development of school chess. Kazakhstan’s experience in this area already includes chess instruction in more than 1,500 schools. Turlov believes that similar programs could become one of the main tools for expanding the global chess audience and nurturing a new generation of players.

Another focus is helping national federations create sustainable sources of funding through partnerships, sponsorship programs and professional asset management.

“I sincerely believe that global chess now has a unique opportunity to take the next step in its development. Both my personal experience and my team’s expertise in building a global financial and technology ecosystem will undoubtedly help us make the most effective use of this opportunity,” Turlov said.

Freedom’s Support for Chess

Timur Turlov became President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation in January 2023 and has also headed the International School Chess Federation since 2024. In recent years, Freedom Holding Corp. and Timur Turlov have invested approximately $75 million in supporting and developing chess. The funding has been directed toward organizing international tournaments, developing youth and school chess, training young players and expanding digital infrastructure.

In April, Freedom Holding Corp. announced the acquisition of ChessBase, one of the world’s largest developers of chess software and the owner of an extensive database of chess games. Planned investment in the platform’s development amounts to approximately €5 million. The company intends to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into ChessBase and expand educational services for chess players.

In 2026, Freedom Holding Corp. and FIDE signed a memorandum of cooperation aimed at developing youth and school chess. The company also supports international school competitions, including the World Schools Team Chess Championship stage in Cape Town, where school teams from more than ten African countries competed in July.

Four Continents, One Championship

The Asian stage of the WSTC was held in Almaty in the spring, bringing together 26 school teams from 19 Asian countries. A distinctive feature of the tournament was that participation was limited exclusively to teams representing general education schools, with players aged between eight and 14.

Kazakhstan was represented at the home tournament by teams from SEED Uniker School in Astana, Specialized Lyceum No. 92 in Almaty and the Republican School of Physics and Mathematics. The SEED Uniker School team finished among the four strongest teams on the continent, while the Uzbekistan team won the Asian stage.

Following the Asian stage, the first African continental tournament in the championship’s history was held. The next event will be the American stage, scheduled to take place from August 11 to 16 in San José, Costa Rica. From September 28 to October 3, Europe’s strongest school teams will compete in Tsaghkadzor, Armenia. The winners of all four continental tournaments will meet at the WSTC Grand Final, scheduled for December 2026.