Timur Turlov, President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, has announced his decision to run for the position of Deputy President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). He shared the announcement on his social media pages.
The upcoming elections for the FIDE leadership team will take place on September 26-27, 2026, in Samarkand, as part of the FIDE General Assembly. Concurrently, the city will host the 46th World Chess Olympiad, gathering thousands of grandmasters and chess enthusiasts from around the globe.
Under FIDE regulations, the President and the Deputy President run for election on a joint ticket. In this connection, Timur Turlov has joined the team of the incumbent FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich, who will also participate in the upcoming election campaign.
Turlov noted that the move is a natural next step in his ongoing efforts to develop and digitalize chess in Kazakhstan.
“The results achieved over these past 3.5 years have convinced me of a simple fact: the approach we use in Kazakhstan works, and it can be scaled much further, to the level of global chess,” he wrote.
Timur Turlov assumed the leadership of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation in 2023. Backed by the support of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and his federation colleagues, he initiated a profound overhaul of the country’s entire chess sector: from integrating chess into schools and restructuring regional networks to digitalizing athletic data and hosting major FIDE events within Kazakhstan.
In particular, Kazakhstan launched the Youth Talent Support Program, providing the most promising athletes with opportunities to train under renowned specialists, utilize modern equipment, and travel to leading international competitions.
The national Chess in Education program is also growing rapidly, allowing primary school students to regularly practice chess directly at their educational institutions. To date, the program covers over 1,500 schools and more than 60,000 pupils across all regions of Kazakhstan.
Currently, Kazakhstan fields one of the strongest youth national teams and one of the top-tier women’s teams globally. Medal tallies show consistent growth: in 2025 alone, Kazakhstani chess players secured 162 medals at international tournaments, 64 of which were gold.
In 2026, the country rolled out a state-of-the-art accreditation system for chess schools and clubs. At present, preparations are underway for the full launch of the unified KazChess ID digital platform, which will serve as the core of the national chess ecosystem.
“The team we are running with is truly international, and I represent the very ‘middle power’ that our President has frequently spoken about. My objective is to bring more stability, balance, and mutual understanding to FIDE. Furthermore, as a leading tech entrepreneur, I can make the federation more digital. In this sense, I represent more than just myself. After all, Kazakhstan today is exactly that kind of country: digital, technological, and resilient, capable of maintaining a calm and balanced dialogue with everyone: a country increasingly recognized globally as a reliable partner. I believe it is only right to bring qualities such as our technological edge and our stability into international institutions,” Timur Turlov emphasized.
The KazChess President expressed confidence that success in these elections would provide another reason for national pride and stand as a shared victory for Kazakhstan.
