FIDE - International Chess Federation

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿♟ Introducing Team England for the FIDE Chess Olympiad!

England (Women): Bodhana Sivanandan, Lan Yao, Jovanka Houska, Harriet Hunt, and Elmira Mirzoeva
Captain: Stuart Conquest

England (Open): Nikita Vitiugov, Michael Adams, Gawain Jones, Luke McShane, and Daniel Fernandez
Captain: William Watson

♟ FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026
📍 Samarkand 🇺🇿
🗓 Game days: September 16-27

♟🇰🇿 Almaty will host the first FIDE World University Team Chess Championship from 3 to 10 August 2026, bringing together 16 university teams from around the world at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

💬 “This championship brings together universities with remarkable academic traditions and proud chess histories. Some of the participating institutions have had chess clubs for more than 150 years, showing how deeply the game is rooted in university life. The response to the inaugural championship has been outstanding. A total of 79 teams from 49 countries competed in the qualification stages, demonstrating both the global reach of the tournament and the popularity of chess among university students,” said Viswanathan Anand (Vishy Anand), FIDE Interim President.

Players must have been born between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2008 and be currently enrolled at the institution they represent. The total prize fund is €50,000, with €25,000 awarded to the champions, €15,000 to the runners-up and €10,000 to the third-placed team.

💬 “Importantly, university chess lays a foundation for collaboration that reaches far beyond sports. Sitting at these boards are the leaders who will head global companies and public institutions ten years from now. Connections built during student years often prove to be the most enduring, and that, perhaps, is the greatest outcome beyond the tournament standings. Almaty is the ideal venue for this story: as the country’s largest student hub, it speaks the language of youth,” said Timur Turlov (Turlov for Chess), President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation.

Read more: https://www.fide.com/sixteen-universities-meet-in-almaty-for-inaugural-fide-world-university-team-chess-championship/

♟ FIDE 2026 Elections: Presidential Ticket Candidacies Announced

▪️Jan Henric Buettner (b. 1964) is an international entrepreneur, investor, sports innovator, and philanthropist with more than three decades of experience building global organizations, raising investment capital, creating strategic partnerships, and leading complex international businesses. Throughout his career Buettner has founded and developed companies in the fields of telecommunications, internet technology, venture capital, luxury hospitality and sports, including helping to establish AOL Europe, founding BV Capital (now Headline Ventures), and creating the award-winning WEISSENHAUS Private Nature Luxury Resort. In recent years he has focused increasingly on chess.

▪️Wadim Rosenstein (b. 1990) is an entrepreneur, the founder of WR Chess, and Chairman of WR Group Holding. Rosenstein’s career began in 2009 at ThyssenKrupp in Germany, followed by an executive position at Siemag Tecberg Group. Since September 2014 Rosenstein has served as Chairman of WR Group, the company he founded, which has grown into a diversified global enterprise operating in 70 countries, specialising in logistics, heavy engineering, and IT, with additional interests in real estate development and international sports initiatives. Rosenstein has sponsored federations, clubs, and emerging talents across continents.

▪️Timur Turlov (Turlov for Chess) (b. 1987) is a Kazakhstani entrepreneur, financier, and international chess patron, best known as the founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. A specialist in international financial markets and brokerage services, Turlov has built one of the leading financial ecosystems in Central Asia, expanding Freedom’s operations across Kazakhstan, Europe, and the United States. Under his leadership, Freedom Holding Corp. became publicly traded on NASDAQ and significantly broadened its presence in banking, insurance, telecommunications, and digital services. Alongside his business career, Turlov has become an influential figure in the development of chess and sports in Kazakhstan and internationally.

ℹ️ Get to know the candidates by reading the texts from their application forms: https://www.fide.com/fide-2026-elections-presidential-ticket-candidacies-announced/

The 2026 FIDE Presidential election will be held on September 26, 2026, at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Each Member Federation represented in the General Assembly and in the assemblies of FIDE continents has one vote.

♟ FIDE Interim President Viswanathan Anand (Vishy Anand) welcomed the announcement of 🇨🇭 Geneva as the host of the FIDE World Championship Match 2026:

“Several countries expressed a strong interest in hosting the FIDE World Championship Match, including India, the United States and Cyprus. After carefully considering all the proposals, FIDE has decided to stage the match on neutral soil and bring it to Geneva, a city with a historic tradition of bringing nations and cultures together. We look forward to welcoming the global chess community to Switzerland. The local chess fans will have the opportunity to experience world-class chess in person, while millions of fans around the globe can follow the battle online as the duel for the highest title in chess unfolds.”

The FIDE World Championship Match 2026 between reigning World Champion 🇮🇳 Gukesh D and Challenger 🇺🇿 Javokhir Sindarov will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from November 25 to December 15.

♟🇨🇭 Geneva to host FIDE World Championship Match 2026

The FIDE World Championship Match 2026 between reigning World Champion 🇮🇳 Gukesh D and Challenger 🇺🇿 Javokhir Sindarov will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from November 25 to December 15. Both Gukesh, representing India, and Sindarov, representing Uzbekistan, will be 20 years old when the event begins, making it the youngest World Championship contest in history.

Read more: https://www.fide.com/geneva-to-host-fide-world-championship-match-2026/

♟ FIDE Capacity Building Seminar Supports African Federations

In the framework of the African Chess Confederation (ACC) General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, FIDE organised a Capacity Building Seminar for national chess federations across the continent. The seminar brought together FIDE officials, Commission Chairs and Secretaries, representatives of affiliated organisations, ACC delegates, federation presidents and national federation officials to exchange knowledge and best practices on strengthening chess administration and development.

Dana Reizniece (DanaReizniece), Acting Chair of the FIDE Management Board, presented the federation’s global development programmes, including the Development Fund, capacity-building initiatives, and social and educational projects.

Timur Turlov (Turlov for Chess), President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and President of the International School Chess Federation, presented Kazakhstan’s experience as an example of a successful national development strategy.

Read more: https://fide.com/fide-capacity-building-seminar-supports-african-federations/

African Chess Confederation- Confédération Africaine des Echecs

♟😉 Just a reminder of who won the first-board gold medal at the 2024 FIDE Chess Olympiad.

🥇 Gukesh D 🇮🇳
🥈 Nodirbek Abdusattorov 🇺🇿
🥉 Magnus Carlsen 🇳🇴

Who do you think will be the best this year?

♟ FIDE Chess Olympiad 2026
📍 Samarkand 🇺🇿
🗓 Game days: September 16–27

✨ A successful chess program in a school can be felt far beyond the chess room. It is part of the school culture and is felt throughout the community. When programs become more than about chess, they become more sustainable and can have a far-reaching impact.

🏅 At Colegio Obradoiro International School in A Coruna, Spain, this 2026 FIDE Gold School Award winner has made chess a part of the school culture, and it has been so for the last 40 years!

♟ “Chess is naturally integrated into the school's educational approach, especially within the International Baccalaureate (IB) framework, through interdisciplinary proposals: Cross-curricular approach (personal and social development): Chess adapted for visually impaired people, promoting inclusion Projects about women in chess, promoting gender equality Development of skills such as decision-making, emotional management, and critical thinking Interdisciplinary approach. Interdisciplinary approach (application to subjects): Math: using the value of pieces to work on calculation, logic, and problem-solving. History: analyzing the origin of chess from Chaturanga to its spread in the west. Language: learning specific chess vocabulary in different languages.

🔸 Chess holds a central place in the identity of the center and has been an established part of its educational culture for more than 40 years. Its presence is constant in both the physical spaces of the school and in the institutional communication channels, projecting a strong, coherent, and recognizable image of the program.

Chess is integrated into the school's institutional events, such as the sports festival, where simultaneous games are organized in the playground and activities on the giant chessboard. These initiatives bring chess closer to all students in a participatory, visible, and engaging way.

🔹 The program incorporates active methodologies using mini-games and adapted variants: Games like 'cat and mouse' and modes like '3 checks' or 'queen vs pawns'. These tools facilitate progressive, motivating learning tailored to different student levels.

👏 Congratulations to Coach Jacobo Caselas Cabanas and the students, parents, and staff at Colegio Obradoiro International School!

Know an educational chess project making a difference?
✉️ Share it with us at [email protected]

♟🌍 The 10th African Chess Confederation (ACC) Electoral General Assembly took place today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where delegates from across the continent elected new leadership for the organization.

Following a closely contested election for the presidency, the candidates received the following votes:

▪️Benard Wanjala 🇰🇪 – 25 votes
▪️Tshepiso Lopang 🇧🇼 – 24 votes

Consequently, Benard Wanjala was elected President of the African Chess Confederation.

FIDE congratulates Benard Wanjala and the newly elected African Chess Confederation leadership and wishes them every success in advancing chess across the continent. FIDE looks forward to continuing its close cooperation with the ACC to promote the development of chess throughout Africa.

Read more: https://www.fide.com/acc-general-assembly-takes-place-in-addis-ababa-benard-wanjala-elected-president/

African Chess Confederation- Confédération Africaine des Echecs