Turlov Unveils a "New" FIDE
By Douglas C. · Tue, 27 Oct 2026
A month after winning the presidency, Timur Turlov has shown how he wants to run FIDE. In a first-person statement published on October 26, he says the federation has reached its next stage of development.
A month after winning the presidency, Timur Turlov has shown how he wants to run FIDE. In a first-person statement published on October 26, he says the federation has reached its next stage of development, and he sets out a reorganization with new bodies, a new Secretary General and a handful of fresh faces around him.
A clearer split of roles
The idea behind the plan is a firmer line between the people who govern FIDE and the people who run it. The General Assembly stays the supreme body. The FIDE Council, Turlov writes, will take a more active part in setting strategic priorities and checking that they are carried out. A new Governance Secretariat will support the governing bodies and the commissions, and the President's Office will concentrate on strategy and major international projects, with Special Representatives of the President for particular areas. Day-to-day operations move to the administration under the Secretary General, with responsibilities spread more clearly across departments.
Turlov also describes a new Advisory Board of internationally experienced professionals. It will advise on long-term strategy and assess new initiatives, but in a consultative role within the existing framework. A full presentation of the structure is linked from the statement.
Who is in the new team
Three appointments are named. Adil Kozhikhov, described as a long-time adviser to Turlov, becomes Head of the President's Office. Kazakh grandmaster Darmen Sadvakasov will chair the Advisory Board. Alina Dvoretskaya, the former Director General of the International School Chess Federation, becomes Secretary General. Turlov frames the arrival of new professionals as a campaign promise kept. The statement gives no further background on any of the three, and the coverage reviewed adds nothing to it.
What the statement does not say
It is long on principle and short on detail. There is no timeline, budget or effective date for the changes. The size and membership of the Advisory Board are not given, and neither are the names or areas of the Special Representatives or the head of the Governance Secretariat. How the new structure fits with existing commissions and departments is also left open. Turlov's goals are familiar ones: more support for national federations, more chess education, new international partners and better use of technology. His one test is that success will be measured by tangible results for federations and the wider chess community, though the statement does not say how.
One line explains his thinking. "Strong institutions must ensure strategic continuity regardless of changes in leadership," he writes. It reads as a statement of intent: a structure meant to hold steady whoever is in charge.
What comes next
The next chance to see the detail may be the Extraordinary General Assembly on December 27, whose agenda is due by November 27. The invitation does not say whether this reorganization will be on it.
