Timur Turlov was elected president of FIDE, becoming the first non-Russian citizen to hold this position in 31 years

Author, News Department

Place of work, BBC Russian Service

Published 4 minutes ago

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Timur Turlov, a 38-year-old Kazakh businessman and native of Moscow, has been elected the new head of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Thus, for the first time in 31 years, world chess will be headed by a person who is not a citizen of Russia. After the start of a full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, Turlov renounced Russian citizenship, but Kyiv imposed personal sanctions against him.

Turlov won the FIDE presidential elections, which were held at the organization’s General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. In the second round, he received 110 votes, beating Ukrainian-born German businessman Vadim Rosenstein, who received 85 votes.

The Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, with whom Turlov ran, became the Deputy President of FIDE.

Previously, Turlov intended to become deputy president of FIDE together with Arkady Dvorkovich, a former deputy prime minister of the Russian government who had led world chess since 2018 and was re-elected in 2022.

But this summer, the European Union imposed personal sanctions against Dvorkovich, after which he announced that he was suspending his participation in the leadership of FIDE and would not apply for the post of president of the organization.

Before Dvorkovich, the international chess federation had been led since 1995 by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the former leader of the Russian republic of Kalmykia.

In response to a question from the Russian state news agency TASS how he intended to resolve the issue of Russia's exclusion from chess competitions, Turlov replied: “In full compliance with international law.”

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian chess players were prohibited from participating in international competitions under the Russian flag.

“I will do my best to bring the community together. So that the community finds the strength to negotiate, move towards each other, respect each other,” TASS quotes Turlov. “I am confident that, in accordance with these principles, we will find agreement where it was difficult to find it.”

Billionaire and financier: what is known about Turlov

As TASS reports, Turlov was born in Moscow and in the mid-2000s worked in one of the structures of the Russian Uniastrum Bank, which was responsible for trading operations on the American market.

Turlov’s website says that in 2008 he founded the financial company Freedom Finance, “a broker specializing in providing access to American exchanges.” In 2019, shares of his company Freedom Holding Corp began trading on the American stock exchange NASDAQ.

According to TASS, since 2011, Turlov mainly lived in Kazakhstan.

In July 2022, Turlov wrote on his Instagram that he had become a Kazakh citizen, posting a photo with a passport of this country and saying that he had been living in Kazakhstan with his family for the last 10 years.

“I am proud to become a citizen of Kazakhstan,” the businessman wrote. “You can breathe freely here, and I believe that Kazakhstan, thanks to its peace-loving and hospitable policy, will be able to build a new, richer, more efficient, fair state.”

In an interview with the Kazakh edition of Forbes magazine, Turlov explained that in order to obtain Kazakhstani citizenship, he needs to renounce the passports of other countries, and he has already submitted an application to renounce Russian citizenship and the citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis.

In January 2023, Turlov became president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation.

As the businessman’s website reports, citing estimates from Forbes magazine, “by 2026, the capitalization of [his] company exceeded $9 billion, and Turlov’s fortune - $6.3 billion (653rd place in the Forbes global ranking).”

Reuters writes that Freedom Holding Corp has been FIDE's main commercial partner and sponsor for several years.

Thus, the agency notes, Turlov’s election raised concerns about a possible conflict of interest if he “oversees both the strategic direction of the federation’s development and its most important commercial partnership.”

"But Turlov's supporters say his work in finance and experience as a businessman will help put chess on a more professional footing and help the sport's stability at a time when many international federations are facing increasing pressure from commercial interests," Reuters noted.

Why is Ukraine unhappy, although Turlov offered the post of vice president to Podolyak

The Ukrainian Chess Federation (FSHU) opposed the appointment of Turlov as head of FIDE.

A statement on the organization’s website says that since October 2022, the businessman “has been under sanctions established by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and put into effect by presidential decree.”

The Interfax Ukraine agency recalls that before the imposition of sanctions, Freedom Finance Ukraine (Kyiv) was “one of the largest participants in the Ukrainian stock market and is associated with Freedom Holding Corp, founded by Turlov.” As a result of the imposition of sanctions, one of the three Ukrainian stock exchanges, the Ukrainian Exchange, the largest shareholder of which was Turlov’s company, lost its license.

On September 21, Turlov wrote on the X network that if elected head of FIDE, he would offer the position of vice-president to Advisor to the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak.

“Ukraine is one of the world’s greatest chess nations,” his post said. “Its outstanding tradition has produced many generations of excellent players and coaches. Even during incredibly difficult times for the country, Ukrainian chess remains strong and internationally respected.”

He explained his decision to offer the post to Podolyak as follows: “FIDE is an organization with global reach, and it cannot work in isolation from what is happening in the world. Ukraine must have its own voice when various decisions are made and discussed.”

In response, Podolyak wrote that he accepted this proposal and “supports the reformist vision” of Turlov. “I am deeply interested in international federations leaving intrigue and politics behind,” he noted.

However, the Ukrainian Chess Federation expressed bewilderment at Podolyak’s statement. She noted that she “did not receive any proposals from Timur Turlov to delegate a representative of Ukraine to his team” and “did not authorize Mikhail Podolyak to represent the FSHU.”