FIDE elects Timur Turlov president and backs an Elo rating for Chess960

Meeting in Samarkand on 26 and 27 September 2026, FIDE’s General Assembly elected Timur Turlov as the organisation’s new president. The same session approved a long-awaited project: an official Elo rating system for Chess960, also known as Fischer Random.

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The essentials
• Timur Turlov elected FIDE president in Samarkand.
• Viswanathan Anand elected deputy president, alongside four other vice presidents.
• An official Elo rating for Chess960 must be in place by 1 June 2027 at the latest.
• Qatar and Georgia have both bid to host the 2030 Chess Olympiad, with Qatar currently favoured.

Table des matières

A new leadership in Samarkand

The election took place during the 46th Chess Olympiad and the FIDE Congress, which brought together member federations, the FIDE Council, the Zonal Council and FIDE’s various commissions. According to FIDE, Timur Turlov takes charge with Viswanathan Anand as deputy president. Four other figures were also elected vice presidents: Yuhua Xu, Michael Khodarkovsky, Pavel Kolobkov and Yassin Souleiman Hassan. Further appointments rounded out the new leadership, with Luigi Maggi named treasurer and Bouchra Kadiri appointed vice president and Council secretary.

Chess960 set to get its own Elo

The biggest news for players is the approval of a dedicated Elo rating system for Chess960. Popularised by Bobby Fischer, the variant scrambles the starting position of the pieces to reduce the weight of opening theory. Until now it had no rating system of its own, something that should change with a tool comparable to the one already used in classical chess; for background on how that works, see our piece on chess Elo ratings. FIDE set a firm deadline: the system must be rolled out by 1 June 2027 at the latest.

The initiative was jointly proposed by the German, Icelandic, Norwegian, Irish and Faroese federations, a sign that interest in Chess960 now extends well beyond the Nordic countries where it has grown particularly popular in recent years.

A bilingual identity reaffirmed

The General Assembly also approved a bilingual institutional designation for FIDE, pairing its current English name with its former French name, a nod to the federation’s French origins.

Looking ahead to 2030 and beyond

On the organisational side, both Qatar and Georgia declared themselves ready to host the 2030 Chess Olympiad. Qatar is currently the favoured candidate, pending official guarantees still to be provided. An extraordinary online General Assembly will also be held in late 2026 to review the 2027 and 2028 budgets, a key step for the new leadership’s agenda.

Between a new governance structure and an opening towards alternative formats, FIDE is charting a course that should keep the chess world talking in the months ahead.