Sanctioned Turlov elected new FIDE president

Timur Turlov, the 38-year-old president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., has been elected as the new president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Despite facing sanctions from Ukraine since October 2022, Turlov secured 110 votes, outpacing his rival, Vadim Rosenstein from Germany, who received 85 votes.

This marks Turlov as the second-youngest FIDE president in the organization's history. The Ukrainian Chess Federation (CFU) had previously opposed Turlov's candidacy, claiming that his actions constitute an attempted hostile takeover of their organization, as the inclusion of a country's representative in FIDE's leadership requires prior nomination from the national chess federation of that country.