As published in Kursiv Media on 7 October 2026.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has congratulated Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., on his election as FIDE President, a milestone he described as a sign of Kazakhstan’s growing influence in international chess.
Turlov won the election in Samarkand with 110 of 196 possible votes, after outlining plans for a dedicated fund and more than $6 million in investment to develop chess, including support for smaller national federations.
The meeting also put Kazakhstan’s own chess ambitions in the spotlight. With more than 278,000 people regularly playing the game and the women’s national team taking silver at the Samarkand Chess Olympiad, Tokayev called for stronger national-team training, better pathways for young talent, and wider access to chess in schools and regions. He also highlighted opportunities to work with FIDE on training coaches and arbiters and bringing major international tournaments to Kazakhstan.