Following the EU sanctions on Arkady Dvorkovich that led to his withdrawal from the FIDE President post and the race for a new term, Kazakh billionaire Timur Turlov announced that he will run for the position of head of the international chess federation. Turlov said on social media, “I am going to the upcoming elections together with Vishwanathan Anand, a great champion and legend of world chess, FIDE Vice President since 2022.”
Timur Turlov statement
Over the past few years, chess has made a huge leap forward. The game has attracted millions of new players, primarily young ones, the chess community is rapidly growing on all continents, and digital technologies have made the game more accessible than ever before. Professional chess is also developing dynamically, becoming more spectacular and commercially attractive.
However, today the federation with a century-old history is at a crossroads. The path taken cannot be stopped or reversed. I believe it needs to be intensified, given new energy, and move forward.
That is why I have decided to run for the post of President of the International Chess Federation.
I am a businessman from Kazakhstan with 15 years of management experience. The Freedom Holding, which I built, is a public company with $10 billion in capital, represented in 22 countries around the world and serving more than 14 million clients, with a team of 11 thousand people.
In 2023, I headed the Kazakhstan Chess Federation. During this time, we held a match for the title of world champion among men, a team championship in rapid and blitz, and just a month ago, my home – Almaty – became the venue for the World University Championship. Since 2024, I have been heading the International School Chess Federation, where we are implementing projects on all continents.
Over the past few years, I have invested more than $75 million in chess. Every cent invested can be tracked in a specific outcome: from infrastructure within Kazakhstan to top champions in New York and Washington.
I see FIDE as a strong global institution that should take a qualitative step forward in several directions at once – and here I have something to rely on. My country is able to build dialogue with the most different states and find a balance where others see contradictions. I am convinced: this is exactly the kind of open and unifying FIDE that should be.
With this vision, I am going to the upcoming elections together with Vishwanathan Anand, a great champion and legend of world chess, FIDE Vice President since 2022. It is an honor for me to share with him the common vision of the future of world chess.