Newly elected FIDE president Timur Turlov said India is a trusted partner of the world body of chess and will continue to host major international championships over the next four years.
He also called for greater Indian influence in the Asian Chess Federation.
India has established itself as a major force in international chess, with a crop of young players, led by reigning world champion D Gukesh, alongside R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and R Vaishali, making their presence felt at the highest level.
Asked whether India could expect to host more international events under his administration, Turlov responded in the affirmative. “Absolutely,” Turlov said on the sidelines of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot here.
“That depends on our partnership with the Indian federation. But I really believe that we already have a good and trustworthy relationship and you have great leadership.”
“India definitely deserves much better influence in the Asian Federation and definitely is a trusted partner of FIDE for multiple international events. I am sure that India will continue to host major international championships in the next four years.” India has hosted several major events in recent years, including the 44th Chess Olympiad in 2022, the World Junior Chess Championship in 2024 and the World Cup in 2025. It also hosts the prestigious Tata Steel Chess tournament annually.
The Kazakhstan-based businessman took over as FIDE president in September, while India’s five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will continue in his position as deputy president. Turlov said Anand’s decision to continue in the administration was driven by a shared desire to build on the achievements of the previous leadership while bringing greater business and administrative expertise to the organisation.
“I think I inspired him to go together to protect the great job which we have done before and to help me further build on the existing achievements. With his help, I think we have built a great team with an administrative and business approach, while having a chess legend and professional to counterbalance our entrepreneurial initiatives,” he said.
Turlov’s key priorities over the next four years include making FIDE more digitally advanced, improving its broadcasting and tapping into commercial opportunities to expand the sport’s global reach.
“I definitely want to make FIDE more digital. My priority is to implement a best-in-class customer relationship management (CRM) system with Salesforce to empower FIDE and national federations, improve collaboration with major chess platforms and develop online chess championships where FIDE must become far more active,” he said.
The 38-year-old also wants to make chess broadcasts more engaging and accessible to audiences beyond the professional circuit, with artificial intelligence playing a significant role in that transformation. “I am sure that with the help of AI, we will be able to develop a new generation of chess broadcasts,” he said.
Turlov also identified attracting major global sponsors as a key objective, saying he hoped to bring some of his business partners into the sport. He also wants major Indian companies to associate themselves with global chess events rather than limiting their involvement to domestic competitions.