Turlov and Buettner Participate in LIVE Q&A Session at the Olympiad
By Robby B. · Thu, 24 Sep 2026
A live Q&A showed Buettner and Turlov offering ambitious, business-driven visions for FIDE, but both left important questions about transparency, accountability, and the risks of concentrating too much influence in a wealthy president unresolved.
With the FIDE presidential election approaching, candidates Timur Turlov and Jan Henric Buettner took part in a public Q&A in Samarkand, outlining competing visions for the future of the International Chess Federation. The discussion centered largely on how FIDE should be financed, managed, and developed while making chess more accessible around the world.The FIDE presidential candidates’ Q&A offered an unusually direct look at two very different business-minded visions for the future of international chess. Timur Turlov and Jan Henric Buettner both presented themselves as successful entrepreneurs capable of bringing more money, professionalism and visibility into FIDE. Yet the hour-long discussion also exposed weaknesses in both campaigns: ambitious promises were plentiful, while some of the harder governance questions received less convincing answers.Buettner leaned heavily on his record as an entrepreneur and the founder of the Freestyle Chess tour. His pitch was essentially that FIDE needs stronger leadership, better commercial instincts and a president willing to personally take responsibility. At one point, he argued that FIDE currently lacks “real leadership,” saying that when problems arise, “everybody ducks away.” He promised to become the public face of chess, generate significantly more revenue and distribute 20 percent of FIDE’s income directly to national federations.There is an appealing simplicity to that message, but Buettner occasionally sounded more like a corporate turnaround specialist than the prospective leader of a global nonprofit sporting federation. His emphasis on making chess commercially attractive was especially noticeable when discussing young players. He argued that chess needed to become “cool,” including through partnerships with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Cartier, suggesting that such associations could help retain girls in chess.That answer was one of the weaker moments of the session. The original question concerned giving young people a role in shaping the governance and organization of chess, yet much of Buettner’s response shifted toward branding, fashion and commercial appeal. His comments about teenage girls being interested in appearance and luxury brands also risked reducing a complicated participation problem to a rather superficial marketing formula.More importantly, Buettner was challenged on whether his commercial instincts could conflict with FIDE’s responsibility to provide fair access. A journalist raised previous difficulties involving Freestyle Chess, media accreditation and online qualification opportunities. Rather than directly addressing the specifics, Buettner said those matters belonged “offline” and focused instead on his intention to maintain good relationships with all major chess platforms. For a candidate campaigning on transparency and leadership, declining to engage fully with a concrete example from his own record left an obvious question unanswered.Turlov presented a different version of the businessman-president. His campaign centered more heavily on direct investment, digitalization, chess in schools and federation development. Drawing on his experience as president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, he described expanding school chess from just over 20 schools to roughly 2,500 and argued that similar management methods could be applied internationally.His financial promises were substantial. Turlov described a €6.2 million development program, alongside additional media spending, covering open tournaments, travel subsidies, coaching, youth support and digital tools for national federations. He also promised that his first 100 days would include hiring staff, strengthening communications, increasing resources for software, PR and marketing, and making governance more transparent.But Turlov’s approach raises its own governance concerns. Much of his program depends on his ability and willingness to inject significant personal resources into FIDE. That may provide short-term stability, but it also creates a legitimate question about whether an international federation should become so closely tied to the financial capacity of one wealthy president. Turlov repeatedly presented additional funding as the solution to institutional problems, while offering fewer details about checks and balances around that influence.He also faced one of the most uncomfortable questions of the afternoon when asked about his lawsuit against photojournalist and FIDE vice-presidential candidate David Llada. Turlov insisted that criticism and opinions were acceptable but said he could not tolerate what he regarded as factually false statements, arguing that failing to pursue the matter legally could be interpreted as admitting the allegations. His explanation may make sense from a corporate reputation-management perspective, but for someone seeking leadership of an international sports body, the use of litigation against a journalist inevitably raises broader questions about how robustly criticism would be tolerated under his presidency.The contrast between the candidates was therefore less about whether FIDE should become more professional and commercial—both clearly believe it should—and more about how that transformation should happen.Buettner offered aggressive commercialization, personal leadership and a promise to turn FIDE into a stronger revenue-generating institution. Turlov emphasized investment, infrastructure, education and long-term development. Yet both candidates also demonstrated the risks of importing the culture of billionaire-led private enterprise into a federation built around hundreds of national members.The strongest impression from the Q&A was that both men know how to describe growth. The more difficult question is how either would balance that growth with transparency, institutional independence, fair competition and accountability. On those subjects, the session produced some answers—but also several important questions that remained unresolved.The Q&A gave the chess community a clearer look at those contrasting philosophies ahead of the vote. FIDE’s presidential election is scheduled for September 26 in Samarkand, with each represented member federation entitled to one vote.