From fintech to the future of global chess

In September, Samarkand, the ancient Silk Road city in Uzbekistan, will host a different kind of chess game — one played far beyond the 64 squares.

On Sept 26, representatives of national chess federations will gather there to elect the next president of the International Chess Federation, or FIDE. Three tickets are running: German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner with British International Master Malcolm Pein; World Rapid Chess founder Wadim Rosenstein with businessman Gordon Tang; and Kazakhstani financier Timur Turlov with five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand.

For the 38-year-old Turlov, the move from finance into international sport may look unlikely. He founded Freedom Finance in 2008 and took Freedom Holding Corp onto Nasdaq in 2019. What began primarily as a brokerage has expanded into banking, insurance, payments, telecommunications and lifestyle services.

But viewing his FIDE campaign simply as a billionaire pursuing a passion for chess misses a central part of his proposition. What Turlov wants to bring to chess is something he has spent years building in business: an ecosystem connecting otherwise fragmented products, users and services.

Now, he wants to apply that thinking to a global sport.

From finance to chess

Turlov's involvement in chess predates this election. In January 2023, he became president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, the same year the government approved a national chess development plan running through 2027.

Regional offices were established across all 20 regions, support for national teams and young players increased, and tournaments listed in international databases rose from 1,538 in 2023 to 3,853 in 2025.

The expansion in schools is perhaps more striking. Kazakhstan's Chess in Education program now reaches more than 1,500 schools and around 60,000 children, with approximately 2,800 teachers trained.

Results have improved too. Kazakh players won 126 medals at official international competitions in 2023 and 162 in 2025, while the women's national team won its first Chess Olympiad silver in 2024.

These achievements involved government, schools, coaches, the federation and private-sector partners. But they have also become an important part of Turlov's case for the FIDE presidency: rather than simply outlining what he wants to build, he can point to something already established.

There is a clear parallel with his business career. Freedom grew from a brokerage into a broader financial and consumer ecosystem and now operates in more than 20 countries. In Europe, it already has more than 600,000 clients and plans to obtain a banking license there as well. More recently, the group received a brokerage license in Turkey — the first such broad license granted to a foreign company there in 34 years — and opened its own bank in the country.

Turlov sees a similar challenge in chess: plenty of participants and services, but too little connecting them. Players often use separate systems for FIDE profiles, online platforms, tournament registrations, federations and coaching.

His proposal is, in effect, a global chess account — a single FIDE digital identity combining ratings, results, tournament history and achievements, while providing access to competitions and educational resources. Artificial intelligence could support game analysis, coaching and fair-play monitoring.

In this vision, FIDE would evolve beyond its traditional role as a regulator and organizer into a global service platform for chess.

Why schools matter

Another word repeatedly appears in Turlov's vision, and it sounds considerably less corporate: children.

The International School Chess Federation, established in 2024, aims to connect chess federations with schools, universities, teachers and national education systems. In 2025, it joined FIDE in organizing the World Schools Team Championship and an education summit in Washington. The two organizations subsequently declared 2026 the Year of Chess in Education.

There is also a social dimension. By helping schools and federations introduce chess at relatively low cost, the initiative aims to give children from disadvantaged backgrounds access to a game they might otherwise never encounter.

The logic is simple. World champions create stars and elite tournaments attract audiences, but the mass base of a sport often begins when a child first sits at a chessboard.

That child may never become a professional player, but could become a coach, organizer, amateur player or lifelong follower who passes the game on to another generation.

It also helps explain why Turlov's campaign focuses on smaller federations with limited resources. He argues that FIDE should not simply distribute grants, but give federations technology, educational products and commercial tools that can help them generate their own revenue.

At the first FIDE presidential debate on Sept 9, Turlov also proposed a development fund of more than $6 million for national federations, particularly those with fewer resources. The money could support open tournaments, training for arbiters and coaches, and players competing at home and abroad.

A financier's next move

Turlov's rivals offer different visions. Buettner emphasizes investment, sponsorship and new formats, while Rosenstein, founder of WR Chess, is campaigning on stronger governance and commercial operations.

Their candidacies reflect a broader question facing FIDE. Founded in 1924, the organization now operates in a world where chess competes with video games, esports and short-form entertainment, even as online platforms have brought the game to new audiences.

Turlov's answer draws on fintech — digitalization, platforms, ecosystems and scale — while Anand brings the experience and stature of a five-time world champion. Together, they represent an attempt to combine technology and business with chess tradition.

The decision rests with FIDE's member federations, each with one vote in a secret ballot.

Turlov can point to two examples of his approach in action: Freedom Holding, which grew from a regional brokerage into an international financial group, and Kazakh chess, where tournaments, school programs and youth development have expanded rapidly.

Samarkand is his attempt at a third act of scaling — this time, a century-old global sporting organization.

When the votes are cast on Sept 26, the chess world will decide what comes next.

For Turlov, it may be the biggest game of his career.

And the opening move has only just been played.