Kazakhstan’s Timur Turlov elected next FIDE president in Samarkand
Kazakh entrepreneur Timur Turlov was elected president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) on Saturday, 26 September, winning the leadership vote held during the federation’s General Assembly in Samarkand. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand was elected deputy president on the same ticket.
Turlov and his running mate, Anand, received 110 votes in the second decisive ballot, ahead of their near-peer contenders, Wadim Rosenstein and Gordon Tang who garnered 85 votes. 196 delegations have cast their ballot, with one abstention.
«I think it’s a wonderful moment of unity… I’ll do everything I can to bring the chess community to even better growth and prosperity,» Turlov said to cheerful delegates
Timur Turlov (@TurlovforChess) is the 8th FIDE PRESIDENT ✨ pic.twitter.com/9a0vcYqY8O
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 26, 2026
Some ballots were declared invalid because delegates had not used an accepted mark — a tick, a cross or a plus sign — according to election officials.
First ballot
Previously, Turlov and Anand received 96 votes in the first ballot, ahead of Jan Henric Buettner – Malcolm Pein (20 votes) and Wadim Rosenstein – Gordon Tang (78 votes). The delegations had to cast their ballot again, as FIDE election rules require a successful candidate to secure 50% of all votes plus one vote.
🗳♟The FIDE Presidential Election goes to a second round.
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 26, 2026
First-round results:
Timur Turlov — 96 votes
Wadim Rosenstein — 76 votes
Jan Henric Buettner — 20 votes
192 votes were cast.
The second round will be between Timur Turlov and Wadim Rosenstein. pic.twitter.com/yKtzkxihXs
The election put a Central Asian businessman at the head of world chess at a time when the region itself has become one of the sport’s fastest-growing centres.
Turlov had campaigned on stronger support for national federations, greater digitalisation, financial resilience and expanding chess beyond its traditional strongholds.
Read also: Turlov puts personal chess funding pledge in FIDE elections speech
Who is Timur Turlov?
Turlov, born in 1987, is the founder and CEO of Nasdaq-listed Freedom Holding Corp and has headed the Kazakhstan Chess Federation since 2023. He has also led international school-chess initiatives and backed major FIDE competitions through his business group.
Read more: Turlov outlines $7mn chess support plan in FIDE presidency bid
His running mate Anand brought considerably more experience from inside FIDE. The Indian five-time world champion had served as deputy president since 2022 and became interim president in July after his predecessor, Arkady Dvorkovich, suspended his duties following EU and Swiss sanctions.
Turlov had argued during the campaign that smaller federations needed more predictable support and that individual countries should have greater freedom to develop chess according to local needs.
The vote, which overlapped with the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad, took place by secret ballot, with each eligible national federation casting one vote. Three presidential tickets had been approved for the election.
