Timur Turlov has taken the helm of the International Chess Federation, stepping into the role in July 2026 after Arkady Dvorkovich was forced to drop his bid for a third term due to sanctions. Turlov, a Kazakh entrepreneur and sports executive born in Moscow, assumes leadership of the global body.
Rise of Freedom Holding and a Shift in Citizenship
Born on November 13, 1987, Turlov built his early career in the financial sector, starting at the Moscow branch of World Capital Investments in 2003 before moving to Uniastrum Bank in 2005. When the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis collapsed Uniastrum’s Russian operations under the Bank of Cyprus, the 21-year-old Turlov struck out on his own to found Freedom Holding.
The investment firm propelled him into global wealth rankings, earning him a spot on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest individuals under forty in 2025. By 2011, Turlov had established residency in Kazakhstan, eventually acquiring Kazakh citizenship in 2022 while formally renouncing his Russian citizenship.
Transforming Chess Infrastructure from Almaty to Hamburg
Turlov’s influence in the chess world deepened significantly in 2023 when he was elected president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation. In that role, he championed the integration of chess into the national school curriculum.
That ambition scaled dramatically in April 2026, when Turlov acquired ChessBase, the Hamburg-based chess database company, for 4.8 million euros. Alongside the acquisition, he committed an initial investment of approximately 5 million euros for the renewal of the software.
Stepping into FIDE Leadership Under Sanctions
The transition at the top of the International Chess Federation arrived in July 2026. Arkady Dvorkovich relinquished his leadership ambitions after European Union sanctions blocked his path to a third term as FIDE president.
Turlov stepped into the vacancy. The convergence of financial heft and software acquisition places the Kazakh executive at the center of global chess governance.
