Kazakhstani billionaire Timur Turlov elected president of the International Chess Federation FIDE

Timur Turlov, a Moscow-born Kazakhstani billionaire who lived and did business in Russia for many years and has headed Kazakhstan's chess federation since 2023, won the presidency of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in an election in Samarkand in September. His victory has triggered a political dispute in Ukraine. FIDE has been led by Russians for the past two decades, and since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a Russian presence in international sport has often been seen as legitimizing the aggressor state. A week after the vote, Russia's Prosecutor General's Office withdrew its lawsuit seeking to seize Turlov's income for the Russian state.

How the election unfolded

The previous FIDE head, Arkady Dvorkovich, a former Russian deputy prime minister, stepped away from the post in July after the EU put him on its sanctions list for publicly supporting Russian actions. Before him, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov led the federation from 1995 to 2018 and was removed by FIDE's ethics commission after being placed under U.S. sanctions. Russia's FIDE membership was suspended in June because its federation had set up branches in occupied Ukrainian territories.

Three candidates made the ballot: Turlov, German businessman Vadim Rosenstein, and German businessman Jan Henric Buettner. Delegates from 196 of the 202 eligible countries registered. In the second round Turlov received 110 votes to Rosenstein's 85, with one delegate abstaining.

Who is Turlov

Turlov founded the brokerage Freedom Finance and Nevada-registered Freedom Holding Corp., which is listed on Nasdaq. In 2022 he obtained Kazakhstani citizenship, gave up his Russian passport and announced he was cutting business ties with Russia. Ukraine nevertheless put him on its sanctions list in October 2022; Turlov called this "a clerical error."

Ukraine's reaction

The Ukrainian Chess Federation said it did not support Turlov's candidacy. After the vote, Turlov invited Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president's office, to become a FIDE vice president. Podolyak has said he wants to reduce Russian influence in chess. The Ukrainian federation sharply condemned the appointment, as it was made without involving it.