There have been some serious changes in Jan Henric Buettner's life. To name just three examples: In the 1990s, the trained business economist set up AOL Europe, but got into a years-long legal dispute with the media giant Bertelsmann, which paid him a whopping 80 million euros in compensation. The money, in turn, gave him the freedom to buy the Weissenhaus estate on the Baltic Sea in 2006 and to expand it into a luxury resort as a hotelier. Finally, two years ago on the East Holstein coast, he created the “Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge” with industry leader Magnus Carlsen, whose world champion is the Norwegian, and became a global player in the royal game almost overnight.
His life runs in cycles, the successful entrepreneur from Hamburg tells WELT AM SONNTAG. And when he feels like he has accomplished something, he looks for something new, as he has done since June 26, when he announced his candidacy for the election of president of the world chess federation Fide. He would be the first German to hold this prestigious position in the organization's 102-year history. The decision will be made this weekend in Samarkand. As part of the Chess Olympics, which has been taking place in the Uzbek oasis city since last Tuesday, the 204 Fide member countries will vote on their association head for the next four years.
The 62-year-old North German is not the only candidate for the executive chair. Timur Turlow, 38, and Wadim Rosenstein, who is two years younger, positioned themselves as opposing candidates. The trio fought a bitter three-way battle.
Turlow is considered the richest man in Kazakhstan and also serves as the president of the chess association there. The billionaire originally wanted to run as Fide vice-president of the Russian Arkady Dvorkovich, who has been in office since 2018. But after the previous president was sanctioned by the EU shortly before the application deadline because he held the highest government positions until 2018 and in his role endangered the “territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” Turlow decided to apply to succeed him following Dvorkovich’s resignation.
Turlow was born in Moscow, moved his bank Freedom Finance, which is traded on the New York technology exchange NASDAQ, from Russia to Kazakhstan and exchanged his Russian passport for a Kazakh passport in 2022. He has long been Fide's most important financial backer, although he is by no means without controversy. Research by the investigative platform Hindenburg Research has shown that his Freedom Holding is intended to help Russian oligarchs circumvent Western sanctions. Turlow himself is also sanctioned - by Ukraine, which accuses him of being close to Russia, whose chess federation was banned for three years by the International Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) for organizing tournaments in the occupied Ukrainian regions.
Wadim Rosenstein is also an entrepreneur and extremely wealthy. His mother comes from Russia, his father comes from Ukraine. From there the family moved to Germany in 2000, of which he is the only citizen. The Düsseldorf-based patron with his WR Group Holding operated on the Russian market for years. He had used a lot of money and well-known grandmasters to shape the Düsseldorfer SK into the German chess champion. He initiates one chess project after another. For example, a world record tournament lasting 67 hours in the Peruvian capital Lima. Or an exhibition match in Miami between the currently strongest chess teams from America and Uzbekistan. Or a world-class series for women on four continents.
Unlike Buettner and Turlow, Rosenstein's campaign focused primarily on one-on-one conversations and avoided interviews. He left an online debate with his opponents two weeks ago after a four-minute opening statement with the words: “See you in Samarkand!” The format did not provide him with the conditions for an objective and fair discussion, he said, explaining why he left the three-way conversation. If he is elected, he promised the national associations, “I will always be there for you”.
Rosenstein also caused displeasure among the electorate with a photo. It shows him at a tournament in Moscow shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There he sits opposite Grandmaster Sergei Karjakin, an ardent and avowed supporter of Vladimir Putin with a seat in the Russian Parliament.
In contrast to Rosenstein, Buettner received no support from the German Chess Federation, which appointed Rosenstein as its Fide delegate. Buettner left this cold, he replied: “In the past few months, many respected members of the international chess community have encouraged me to run for the office of Fide President, whereupon I have decided to take on this responsibility.”
The fact that Buettner took up the challenge is thanks to the mother of Bibissara Assaubayeva, the Kazakh blitz chess world champion. The passionate doer invited both women and Bibissara's fiancé, World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan, to Formula 1 in Monaco on the first weekend in June. While he was watching the race with the two chess luminaries, his wife Holly was with Bibissara's mother, who suddenly asked him via WhatsApp during their stroll if he would like to run for the Fide presidency. Buettner's first reaction was: "No way! What did you drink?"
Despite his initial antipathy, Buettner never let go of the idea of the Fide presidency. The change in thinking is due to “my American streak,” he says. He lived on the west coast there for 15 years. "The German approach is often: 'Yes, but...'. Basically you find something interesting, but in the end you don't do anything. In California it's exactly the opposite: 'Why not?' And that's what he said to himself at some point.
Buettner is betting that his business experience can modernize the World Chess Federation. His noble vision is: "I'm not here to change chess. I'm here to make chess grow." His campaign prioritized strengthening national associations, attracting new commercial partnerships, promoting school chess, expanding opportunities for women and emerging chess nations, accelerating digital innovation and creating sustainable long-term growth for the global chess ecosystem.
Identical content can also be found in the election programs of Turlov and Rosenstein. But no one in the circle of three formulated their ambitious plans as clearly as Buettner in his chess manifesto, which includes ten commitments. He promises to generate $50 million in new revenue. 20 percent is to be distributed permanently to the member associations. Potential donors have so far only been deterred because they had no access due to non-transparent Russian structures. For over three decades, the Fide has been dictated by leaders from the Eastern European Federation. This will change fundamentally under Buettner.
In addition, ten million children are to be recruited for chess programs in educational institutions. The participation of women should increase by 50 percent. 10,000 coaches and referees receive training. 100 new international tournaments are supported, transparency reports are published quarterly.
The integrity of Fide is Buettner's top priority. In an interview with the German chess portal “Perlen vom Bodensee”, he accused the institution of being more corrupt than the world football association Fifa. He finds it shocking how open this is now in the election. "The price of a vote is 40,000 dollars in Europe and 5,000 dollars in Africa. We are dealing with a patronage system that has been established over the past 40 or 50 years. Every four years someone comes along and distributes money. I could never have imagined something so corrupt before."
Buettner is the only one of the applicants who cannot be said to have any proximity to Russia. Chess is the national sport there and an effective propaganda tool. For this reason alone, many wanted him to win. But also because it will free the world association from Russian control. That would, Buettner emphasizes, be a great achievement.
