With lower than a month till FIDE elects its subsequent president, the marketing campaign has entered an more and more heated part, with formal complaints from all three tickets, questions over Timur Turlov’s eligibility, and allegations that FIDE itself has failed to stay impartial.
FIDE has confirmed to Chess.com that its Electoral Fee has acquired complaints from every of the three presidential tickets: Jan Henric Buettner with IM Malcolm Pein; Wadim Rosenstein with Gordon Tang; and Turlov with five-time world champion GM Viswanathan Anand.
FIDE mentioned the respondents in all three circumstances have submitted authorized responses, whereas the Electoral Fee, chaired by Roberto Rivello, was anticipated to assessment the complaints and challenge a report by the tip of August. As of September 2, no report has been made public.
The FIDE workplace additionally famous:
It also needs to be taken under consideration that, in keeping with the principles, the Fee is reviewing different complaints associated to electoral issues, for instance, complaints regarding people eligible to be included within the delegates’ lists.
A variety of such complaints have additionally been filed, and this workload ought to be thought-about when assessing the Fee’s work.
Right here we are going to undergo the newest developments forward of the election:
Buettner Accuses FIDE Of Favoring Turlov
Buettner accused FIDE of favoring Turlov.
In an August 6 cease-and-desist letter addressed to members of the FIDE Council, officers, and workers, Buettner alleged the “ongoing use of FIDE personnel, assets, and monetary belongings” to help Turlov’s presidential marketing campaign:
Over the course of this election marketing campaign, my workforce has noticed and acquired quite a few credible reviews suggesting that FIDE workers are actively taking part in marketing campaign actions benefiting one explicit candidate.
Amongst these whose actions have raised explicit concern are individually identifiable sure FIDE workers who seem like accompanying, facilitating, or in any other case supporting Mr. Turlov throughout campaign-related actions in a number of jurisdictions, and/or who’re making official FIDE cellphone calls to rearrange for Mr. Turlov to satisfy delegates in sure locations.
Our concern extends past the actions of particular person workers. It additionally seems that FIDE funds could also be used to finance salaries, worldwide journey, lodging and associated bills related to these actions.
Buettner pointed particularly to occasions in Cape City, Bucharest, and Addis Ababa, whereas saying related preparations had been anticipated in Costa Rica, Aruba, Panama, and New York Metropolis.
He claimed his marketing campaign may present proof together with pictures, schedules, journey information, witness statements, and official bulletins upon request, however didn’t publish that materials with the letter.
#chess #FIDE_elections Yesterday, the FIDE Electoral Fee acquired from Presidential candidate @JanHBuettner an official Stop and Desist authorized discover towards Turlov’s marketing campaign. FIDE’s personal assets and employees appear to be used and exploited in these elections.
You possibly can learn… pic.twitter.com/hkusWSH1cd
— George Mastrokoukos (@GMastrokoukos) August 7, 2026
Article 9.8 of FIDE’s Electoral Rules states that candidates who already maintain FIDE positions shouldn’t use federation assets—together with employees, supplies, telephones, amenities, or premises—for campaigning. It additionally states that “FIDE Workplaces ought to preserve neutrality always.”
“The ensuing impact is that one candidate enjoys repeated alternatives to have interaction delegates by occasions supported by FIDE personnel and infrastructure, whereas competing candidates are denied equal entry,” Buettner wrote.
The ensuing impact is that one candidate enjoys repeated alternatives to have interaction delegates by occasions supported by FIDE personnel and infrastructure, whereas competing candidates are denied equal entry.
—Jan Henric Buettner
He demanded that FIDE instruct officers and workers to not help presidential campaigns whereas performing of their official capability, be certain that no federation cash or assets are used for campaigning, and publicly verify strict neutrality and equal remedy all through the rest of the election.
On August 18, his marketing campaign mentioned it had not acquired a substantive response to their cease-and-desist discover, including:
We’ve got intentionally tried to deal with these issues by FIDE’s establishments quite than by the media.
We consider in due course of, and we consider the Electoral Fee should be given the chance to do its work independently. However due course of additionally requires a course of.
When critical questions regarding candidate eligibility, conflicts of curiosity, institutional neutrality and poll integrity are formally submitted, candidates and federations are entitled to know that these questions are being examined and when a call will be anticipated.
We’re not asking FIDE to determine these issues in our favor. We’re asking FIDE to determine them.
Each Rivals Problem Turlov’s Eligibility
Turlov is dealing with separate challenges to his eligibility from each of his opponents. Buettner and Rosenstein have independently requested FIDE’s Electoral Fee to look at points surrounding Turlov’s candidacy, though the challengers have completely different considerations.
On August 11, Buettner and Pein submitted a criticism regarding Turlov. Buettner initially didn’t reveal its substance, however disclosed extra particulars in an interview with Conrad Schormann for his German chess web site Perlen vom Bodensee on August 22.
He mentioned the criticism facilities on three linked points: the participation of the all-Russian college workforce on the latest FIDE World University Team Championship, enterprise involving subsidiaries of Turlov’s Freedom Holding in reference to sanctions, and what Buettner alleges is a battle of curiosity involving Freedom Holding, FIDE’s essential sponsor.
Buettner additionally cited a kids’s chess occasion in South Africa involving Turlov’s Worldwide Faculty Chess Federation (ISCF). He mentioned the criticism accommodates attachments and supporting proof and explicitly asks the Electoral Fee to determine whether or not Turlov ought to be permitted to stay within the presidential race.
Buettner has additionally made clear that he’s ready to take the dispute additional, if crucial. “The Electoral Fee has to react now,” he advised Perlen vom Bodensee. “If it does not, we take the subsequent step—to CAS,” he mentioned, referring to the Lausanne-based Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport, which adjudicates worldwide sports activities disputes.
Rosenstein Raises Citizenship, Sanctions Questions
Rosenstein additionally publicly challenged Turlov’s eligibility on August 7, calling on FIDE’s Electoral Fee and, the place legally competent, the CAS to look at Turlov’s eligibility and disclosures.
He mentioned Turlov ought to be disqualified if the Fee concludes that relevant FIDE laws or eligibility necessities haven’t been met.
Expensive chess neighborhood,
I’m formally calling on the FIDE Electoral Fee and, the place legally competent, the Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), to urgently look at Mr. Timur Turlov’s eligibility and disclosures in reference to the 2026 FIDE Presidential election and, if… pic.twitter.com/tHlUzxj7te
— Wadim Rosenstein (@WadimRosenstein) August 7, 2026
The primary considerations Turlov’s citizenship. Rosenstein cited publicly out there documentation exhibiting a Russian passport issued to Turlov in June 2018 with an expiration date of June 2028.
Turlov, who was born in Moscow, has mentioned that he renounced his Russian citizenship and have become a citizen of Kazakhstan. Rosenstein argued that Turlov ought to present the Electoral Fee with official documentation establishing when and on what authorized foundation his Russian citizenship ceased.
Turlov’s marketing campaign offered Chess.com with an in depth response to Rosenstein’s criticism, calling the allegations “solely unfounded.” The response addressed Rosenstein’s criticism however didn’t reply to the separate allegations raised by Buettner.
On the citizenship challenge, Turlov mentioned he renounced his Russian citizenship on September 27, 2022, and is now solely a citizen of Kazakhstan. His response mentioned official Russian paperwork verify each the termination of his citizenship and the invalidation of his Russian passports.
Turlov additionally argued that Rosenstein’s criticism relied on paperwork that pre-dated his renunciation and an “unauthenticated verification document” that was contradicted by official information.
His communications chief beforehand offered a doc that states that Turlov was now not a citizen by February 16, 2023.
Wadim, Bulat Latypov right here, Chief Communications Officer at Freedom24.
Your declare that Timur Turlov is a citizen of the Russian Federation is totally unfaithful.
That is confirmed by an official certificates issued by the Russian Consulate Common in Almaty.
We additionally take into account that… pic.twitter.com/ehf7PXVInr
— Bulat Latypov (@Latypov__Bulat) August 8, 2026
Holding or having beforehand held Russian citizenship doesn’t in itself make somebody ineligible to face for FIDE President. Candidates should disclose their citizenship as a part of their software, and President and Deputy President candidates on the identical ticket should not characterize the identical FIDE Member Federation.
Rosenstein additionally raised the problem of Turlov being sanctioned by Ukraine in October 2022, saying that the Electoral Fee ought to decide whether or not related sanctions data was correctly disclosed and whether or not it may create authorized, banking, industrial, or reputational dangers for FIDE.
Turlov rejected the argument that the Ukrainian sanctions ought to have been disclosed on his FIDE software. His response argued that the sanctions apply inside Ukraine, are unrelated to chess, and don’t represent both a legal conviction or a sanction imposed for violating FIDE or nationwide chess federation guidelines.
“Mr Turlov has by no means been sanctioned by FIDE or discovered responsible of a legal offence,” his response mentioned.
Mr Turlov has by no means been sanctioned by FIDE or discovered responsible of a legal offence.
—Group Timur Turlov
FIDE’s Electoral Guidelines require candidates to declare measures or sanctions arising from violations of FIDE laws, laws issued by a FIDE Member Federation, or conduct punished as a legal offense.
Turlov’s response additionally argued that the Ukrainian sanctions had been based mostly partly on alleged Russian citizenship, which he says he had already renounced once they had been imposed. The response additionally exhibits that Rosenstein’s criticism contained points that weren’t included in his August 7 public assertion.
Turlov’s response revealed that Rosenstein’s formal criticism cited a Wells Discover issued in March in reference to an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC), which was reported by Bloomberg in June.
A Wells Discover means SEC employees have reached a preliminary dedication to suggest enforcement motion. “It’s merely a part of a prolonged formal process and is addressed to the authorized entity, to not Mr Turlov personally,” the workforce mentioned.
Nonetheless, Freedom Holding’s personal SEC disclosure, in addition to Bloomberg’s reporting, states that each the corporate and Turlov acquired a Wells Discover on March 11, 2026, contradicting the marketing campaign’s assertion that the discover was addressed solely to the authorized entity. The submitting says SEC employees had made a preliminary dedication to suggest a civil enforcement motion towards the recipients.
The submitting additionally burdened {that a} Wells Discover is neither a proper cost nor a last dedication that the recipient has violated any legislation. Freedom Holding and Turlov have challenged the SEC employees’s preliminary dedication.
“No courtroom or administrative authority has discovered that Mr Turlov dedicated any violation, and no sanction has been imposed on him in reference to the Wells Discover. Underneath the FIDE Electoral Guidelines, preliminary and disputed allegations of this type would not have to be disclosed in a candidate software,” his marketing campaign argued.
Turlov’s response additionally addressed Russian courtroom proceedings cited in Rosenstein’s formal criticism. Chess.com has not seen the unique criticism, however in keeping with Turlov, it acknowledged that lower than one p.c of his belongings remained frozen by a Russian courtroom.
Turlov’s workforce mentioned the knowledge was outdated and that the measures had already been lifted following a settlement in 2025. He characterised the freeze as a brief measure in a industrial dispute quite than a sanction or discovering of wrongdoing.
A report by Russian newspaper Kommersant confirms that the Nizhny Novgorod Arbitration Courtroom authorized a settlement and lifted the restrictions on Turlov’s belongings on September 26, 2025.
“This a part of the criticism causes even larger astonishment. All courtroom rulings and determinations are publicly out there on the related web site, and no effort is required to confirm them. Using such a minimal, certainly non-existent, floor within the criticism solely proves the absence of any actual violations on the a part of the Turlov ticket,” Turlov mentioned.
His response additionally rejected the relevance of earlier CAS and FIDE circumstances cited in Rosenstein’s criticism, arguing that these concerned individuals who had acquired formal sanctions or legal penalties and had been subsequently not corresponding to his scenario.
Rosenstein’s public August 7 assertion additionally raised two points that weren’t among the many factors addressed in Turlov’s response offered to Chess.com.
He pointed to reports by Perlen vom Bodensee that Hamburger Sparkasse terminated its enterprise banking relationship with ChessBase after Turlov’s acquisition of the German chess company, asking whether or not related compliance difficulties may doubtlessly come up for FIDE.
Lastly, Rosenstein challenged Turlov to doc his public declare that he has invested roughly $75 million in chess by figuring out the businesses, organizations, tournaments, federations, and initiatives that acquired the cash.
“This isn’t about private assaults,” Rosenstein mentioned. “It’s concerning the requirements we anticipate from anybody searching for to guide the world chess federation.”
Buettner Alleges Votes Are Being Purchased
In his interview with Schormann, Buettner additionally claimed that the going “worth” for a vote within the present election is $40,000 in Europe and $5,000 in Africa.
Buettner didn’t establish who he alleges is providing such funds or present proof for the precise figures within the interview, and Chess.com has not independently verified his claims.
“Each 4 years, somebody comes alongside and fingers out cash,” he mentioned, describing what he referred to as a longstanding patronage system.
He linked the claims to his marketing campaign’s requires stronger poll secrecy, alleging that delegates have beforehand been requested to {photograph} their accomplished ballots to reveal how they voted.
FIDE’s Electoral Guidelines prohibit candidates from providing an “undue benefit” to a member federation, together with funds, advantages, property, companies, loans, employment guarantees, or different gadgets of greater than nominal worth. Candidates are additionally prohibited from providing or accepting remuneration or hid advantages linked with a FIDE election.
“I say to the delegates: Take the 40,000, take the 5,000, take it. You possibly can nonetheless vote for me,” he mentioned, arguing {that a} genuinely secret poll would enable delegates to vote in keeping with their very own alternative no matter outdoors stress.
Turlov Recordsdata Grievance In opposition to Rosenstein
The complaints should not all heading in Turlov’s route. On August 11, Turlov introduced that he and Anand had submitted their very own criticism towards the Rosenstein-Tang ticket to the Electoral Fee.
📃Grievance concerning the Rosenstein–Tang Ticket
Along with my FIDE Deputy President candidate Viswanathan Anand, I’ve submitted a criticism to the FIDE Electoral Fee concerning the Rosenstein–Tang presidential ticket.
The criticism raises 4 points:
1.… pic.twitter.com/0eymrohkDU
— Timur Turlov (@TurlovforChess) August 11, 2026
Turlov raised 4 points: alleged invalid nominations, untimely campaigning, what he referred to as “groundless accusations,” and allegedly defamatory statements from the Rosenstein marketing campaign.
We’re asking the FIDE Electoral Fee to look at these points, set up the information, and challenge an official warning to the Rosenstein-Tang ticket.
And I need to be clear about one factor. This isn’t an try and take away an opponent from the election.
I consider the FIDE President ought to be chosen by the Member Federations. Candidates could strongly disagree, however the election ought to nonetheless be a battle of concepts, packages, and visions—not private assaults or unfair benefits.
And I need to be clear about one factor. This isn’t an try and take away an opponent from the election.
—Timur Turlov
In a remark to Chess.com, Rosenstein declined to touch upon the criticism.
This leaves an uncommon scenario through which all three presidential tickets have formally complained about not less than one rival, with authorized responses now filed in all three circumstances.
FIDE’s Electoral Fee should now take into account the complaints, whereas the eligibility challenges towards Turlov should be determined “within the shortest doable interval.” Underneath FIDE’s guidelines, a last determination on any eligibility criticism should be communicated no later than 15 days earlier than the election.
With the presidential vote scheduled for September 26, September 11 is the newest date for a last eligibility determination.
Earlier than these choices are due, Buettner, Rosenstein, and Turlov agreed to satisfy in Chess.com’s live debate on the 2026 presidential election on September 9, moderated by GM Maurice Ashley.
