FIDE Sets Presidential Candidates Q&A for September 24
By Douglas C. · Tue, 22 Sep 2026
FIDE will host a Presidential Candidates Q&A session on September 24 in Samarkand, giving accredited media a chance to question all three men running for the federation's presidency two days before delegates actually vote. But will all three show up?
FIDE will host a Presidential Candidates Q&A session on September 24 in Samarkand, giving accredited media a chance to question all three men running for the federation's presidency two days before delegates actually vote.The formatThe session runs from 16:00 for up to 60 minutes, on the Main Stage in the Olympiad's Expo Area, moderated by Charlize van Zyl. Each participating candidate opens with a roughly three-minute introduction covering their vision for FIDE, after which the floor opens to questions from accredited media at the Olympiad.Who's actually confirmedTimur Turlov and Jan Henric Buettner have both confirmed they'll take part. Wadim Rosenstein has not confirmed within FIDE's established timeframe, though the federation says the invitation remains open and he'd still be welcome to join, including at short notice.Why that detail is worth notingThis isn't the first time this cycle that Rosenstein has been the outlier in a multi-candidate forum. He left Chess.com's live presidential debate shortly after delivering his own opening statement earlier this month, while Buettner and Turlov stayed for the full session. A second instance of Rosenstein not fully engaging with a format that puts all three candidates in the same room, this time before the vote itself rather than after, is a pattern worth watching rather than a one-off.The stakesThis is the last scheduled public forum before FIDE's General Assembly convenes on September 26 to elect the federation's next president. For accredited media already in Samarkand covering the Olympiad, it's a direct opportunity to press all three tickets on the questions that have piled up over a genuinely contentious campaign, assuming all three actually show up to answer them.