It was not a clean electoral campaign and offered some surprises along the way, but the FIDE General Assembly this Saturday elected Timur Turlov as president, as planned.
The Kazakh billionaire, born in Moscow 38 years ago, succeeds the Russian Arkady Dvorkovich, who aspired to a third term, prevented at the last moment by European Union sanctions.
Turlov presented himself as the Russian's vice president, but when he was forced to resign, he assumed the leadership of the candidacy, with former world champion Vishy Anand as vice president, a role that he already knows well and that has given his partner many votes.
Turlov got 110 votes and the German Wadim Rosenstein 85.
In the first round of voting, the German Jan Henric Buettner was ruled out.
That the electoral process was not exemplary is proven by the words of Susan Polgar, minutes before the final vote.
The former world champion was affected by the behavior of the candidates in their final speeches.
«New FIDE elections are held every four years and, unfortunately, we are also witnessing the worst of chess politics. What should be a constructive debate becomes a smear campaign, with personal attacks, defamations and statements that cross the limits and can become slanderous," he wrote in X.
"Once this election is over, I sincerely hope that all parties will put the campaign behind them, come together and support the new president and his team," he added.
The new president of FIDE was until recently its main sponsor, through the Freedom group, a Central Asian giant listed on the Nasdaq and valued at billions of euros.
Timur Turlov, founder, CEO and main shareholder, entered the Forbes list in 2021 and does not seem willing to leave it.
Along the way, chess has become much more than a hobby for him.
In person, his intelligence and height are obvious.
He is also very polite, although it is evident that he knows how to be implacable, as evidenced by his international complaint against the Spanish journalist David Llada, whom he accuses of defamation.
In the next four years we will discover to what extent this facade of genetics and business pulse hides good ideas for the ecosystem of the board.
For now, his proposals seem sensible: "My program," he assures EL MUNDO, "focuses on five fundamental pillars: a FIDE as a strong global institution, modern in its capabilities, financially sustainable, fair and inclusive, and that promotes the highest standards in its events."
Turlov, a genius when it comes to detecting opportunities, discovered a way to improve his image in chess.
He was born Soviet (Moscow, 1987), grew up Russian and, after renouncing his citizenship of origin, succeeded in Kazakhstan, where he did more than just move his businesses.
From Russia it would not have been able to expand or have the same foreign influence, especially after the invasion of Ukraine.
What for others would have meant the end of his international ambition, for him became an advantage.
His company was a golden bridge for millionaires from Russia and the rest of Asia, above all, to invest without hindrance in the United States.
In his new country, he prospered in finance and made giant strides on the board, as he was soon elected president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, excellent training for his new position.
An old Russian saying says that a person who becomes rich in one year should have been hanged twelve months earlier.
Turlov's career is not so brilliant, but it began when he was still only 16 years old and began working as a trader for the American investment company World Capital Investments.
Later, he worked as a stock broker for Uniastrum Bank, where he helped create infrastructure to operate on the US stock market, a key experience with which he discovered how profitable it could be to connect the rich of the former Soviet Union with international markets.
In 2008, at the age of 21, he founded Freedom Finance, which was born as an intermediation firm.
Four years later it made its way into the Kazakh market, where it ended up establishing its bases.
Turlov moved there with his family (he has six children) and made Kazakhstan the center of operations in his life, while forming the Freedom Holding Corp. group, which was listed on the Nasdaq in 2019.
The number of fields in which it operates now is almost uncountable, with five million customers in Kazakhstan alone and operations in numerous countries in Europe, Central Asia and the United States.
Of this network, Turlov controls around 70% of the shares.
In his first Forbes list, his fortune was estimated at just over 2.1 billion.
In less than a five-year period it exceeds 5,000, although it has not managed to separate itself from its former country, which is why it suffers severe scrutiny from regulators.
He denies all accusations, his income statement has not been affected and Freedom plans to enter new markets, such as France.
Inside the board, its effectiveness is known.
Under his leadership, the Federation of Kazakhstan has strengthened the organization of tournaments, school programs and support for youth and women's chess.
Since 2025, Turlov has also chaired the International School Chess Federation, an organization dedicated to promoting educational chess and children's participation.
To govern FIDE he found an exceptional ally.
Vishy Anand already held the position with Arkady Dvorkovich and even presided over the organization on an interim basis, when the Russian fell into disgrace for his alleged ties to Putin's government.
Turlov took advantage of this crisis to practice his favorite sport: jumping forward.
Its program is based on three ideas: professionalize financial management, accelerate digitalization and give greater weight to less strong federations.
His business experience allows him to present himself as a manager capable of attracting sponsorships and building a sustainable organization.
In reality, chess has always depended on the kindness of great patrons, who however did not usually get the keys to the office.
Turlov is a pioneer in this aspect.
His challenge will be to demonstrate that he not only knows how to keep accounts and that he is also capable of disassociating himself from the perpetual shadows that stalk world chess.
