Wadim Rosenstein and his vision for chess if he became the FIDE President

Three tickets have been submitted for the FIDE presidential election: Wadim Rosenstein with Gordon Tang, Jan Henric Buettner with Malcolm Pein, and Timur Turlov with Viswanathan Anand. We interviewed both Timur Turlov and Jan Henric Buettner and you can find the videos below.

Wadim preferred to do the interview in writing, so we sent him fifteen questions. He answered all of them and here is what he mentioned:

"I am absolutely ready to debate each and every person on the substance of chess and governance" - Wadim

SS: Three presidential tickets have been submitted - yourself with Gordon Tang, Jan Henric Buettner with Malcolm Pein, and Timur Turlov with Viswanathan Anand. What are your thoughts on the field? Were you surprised, or was it what you expected?

WR: The people who run are not a surprise to me, yet their motivation to become FIDE President seems strange not only for me but for every federation I have spoken with. People notice that I have been playing chess for more than thirty years, I still play every day, and I have won national and world team championships. I am the only candidate whose life has been shaped by active, long-term involvement in the sport at every level, so in this regard I consider myself the oldest and most experienced of all of them regarding chess. What is more, I have been doing the work and my track record is impeccable, and I think I have chosen the best possible ticket as well.

With Gordon Tang, we bring proven experience in running international organisations and attracting new audiences, sponsors and formats: the World Rapid & Blitz Team Championship has become one of the most successful team events in the world, and the WR Women's Chess Tour has opened elite opportunities for women on all continents.

If you sit me down with my opponents and ask detailed questions about chess itself - about formats, preparation, practical challenges for federations and players - I am not convinced they could answer from real experience. I am absolutely ready to debate each and every person on the substance of chess and governance, and I doubt they are ready for that conversation.

So I will not spend time commenting on others; I will focus on what my ticket offers, because we are serious and determined about developing chess and making FIDE the respected and successful organisation that we know it can become. We put forward the most experienced people in terms of both chess and global management, and I know that delegates will look carefully at which federation-first programme is practical for their daily work and which team has already delivered structures that work at global scale.

Our plan is clear: make FIDE more professional, less scandal-attracting, and capable of raising the public profile of chess, attracting sustainable long-term sponsorship, and bringing us closer to the shared dream of seeing chess recognised one day - soon - as an Olympic sport.

SS: One of the most important people on your team is Gordon Tang. Could you tell the chess world more about him, including his achievements outside chess?

WR: Gordon Tang is a passionate chess lover and one of the most effective sports leaders I have met. We first worked together in Singapore at the Asian chess leaders' summit, where his team presented a sophisticated digital chess ecosystem. It aligned closely with the digital platform I have been developing for three years, and convinced me that together we can build something truly global and modern for the chess world.

In business, Gordon is an international entrepreneur and investor with major projects across Asia and beyond. He brings not just capital, but the ability to structure long-term partnerships and investment in complex markets, and he has already spent tens of millions of dollars on sport through his philanthropic work.

He serves as President of the International Federation of Mixed Martial Arts, chairs committees for e-sports and mind sports within the Olympic Council of Asia, and is a Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Asia - which is effectively the equivalent of the Olympic Committee of the continent - working closely with the International Olympic Committee. I am convinced that with his experience and my vision and leadership, we can secure a strong future for chess and e-sports within the wider Olympic family. This is the success we will deliver for our member federations.

An interesting fact is that back in 2023 I was offered the opportunity to purchase ChessBase, but I was not satisfied with its concept. Our joint work now is aimed at delivering an innovative digital platform that unites everyone who plays chess - both recreationally and professionally - worldwide, and serves federations instead of locking them into outdated systems. And this is a very prominent component of my electoral programme.

Our wider WR 2026 team will reflect every continent: respected world champions, federation leaders and proven managers from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe, with names, roles and mandates published, so that federations know exactly who is responsible for what. I am looking forward to introducing them in detail, because some of the announcements will surprise people and show how serious we are about changing chess for the better.

A key part of this structure is financial transparency and accessibility. Many federations today need to hire several people just to navigate the bureaucracy of the Development Fund. Under our leadership, the application process will become simple and digital: federations will be able to apply online quickly, without extra staff or wasted resources, and the Fund will be simpler, clearer and fully accountable.

SS: Federations from Albania, the Philippines, Latvia, Poland and Sudan have sent letters of endorsement, and Hikaru Nakamura has publicly said you are the person he wants to win. How do you see the support coming in for you? And with so many member federations around the world, how difficult has it been to meet and speak to all of them?

WR: I am deeply grateful for every endorsement that allows me to stand for the FIDE presidency, and the number of federations pledging support increases daily - I make this visible and transparent through my social media channels, because their trust deserves to be acknowledged publicly. What is more, they are not afraid to publicly pledge support, which only demonstrates that the world is changing and FIDE needs to change with it.

I am equally grateful for support from top players like Hikaru Nakamura and many of the strongest players in the world who are on my side. It is no secret that elite players recognise what we have been building and want a future in which chess is more inviting and fair for everyone - amateurs, professionals and those in between.

The most encouraging aspect is that our support is geographically and structurally diverse: federations with strong traditions, emerging federations and those that have had to fight hard for basic recognition all say the same thing - they need a practical, service-based FIDE instead of empty slogans.

Meeting all federations is demanding; FIDE has more than 200 active member federations. That is why I am spending this campaign travelling worldwide, talking not only to leaders in chess but also to sports ministers, Olympic committees and local leaders, because without political recognition many federations cannot progress.

Where travel is impossible, our programme guarantees named FIDE contacts and continuous dialogue between our campaign and our member federations. Every federation will have someone who answers, and that support will not disappear once the elections are over.

SS: On member federations, your manifesto says you want to give federations practical tools to run events and grow locally, replace bureaucracy with clear usable systems, provide continuous support rather than once-a-year meetings, and help federations secure recognition and funding. Could you expand on what this means in practice? Jan Henric Buettner and Malcolm Pein have said 20% of FIDE's revenue will go to the federations — is there a fixed amount in your plan, or does it depend on each federation's individual requirements?

WR: Federations simply told us that the old FIDE does not work for them. In practice, it means transforming FIDE from an authority that issues instructions into a service organisation whose success is measured by how useful it is to its member federations.

The Federation Toolkit that is part of my programme is one concrete example: ready-made sponsorship templates, marketing guidance, school-chess materials, event-organisation models and governance support that federations can copy, adapt and implement in their own context instead of reinventing everything from scratch.

It also means a Development Fund that is genuinely accessible: short applications, clear criteria, published decisions and non-discriminatory governance - combined with recognition support in talks with Olympic committees and sports ministries, where FIDE stands beside federations to open doors to funding, facilities and salaries.

On the promise that "20% of FIDE's revenue" will go to federations, I have to be very direct: I think such a promise is irresponsible when it is not backed by a clear commercial strategy. Revenue is not profit, and cutting a fixed share out of the top line without understanding costs risks bankrupting FIDE within months.

The offer as it has been presented is a mystery to many people I have spoken to; nobody has been able to explain how it would work in practice. I would sincerely encourage you to ask Jan and Malcolm to give you a detailed model. Anything else is not only irresponsible but, quite frankly, dangerous. My focus is different: I am not interested in empty numbers that look good in a newsletter but cannot be delivered.

My plan is to expand the Development Fund and build a professional commercial department that grows total revenue first, then return more value to federations according to transparent criteria and real needs, with particular attention to small and vulnerable federations that actually depend on FIDE's support.

A very important point for me is that when I look at candidates, I look at what they have done for their own chess communities. Jan's impact on the German federation is zero. Quite frankly, everybody has criticised his candidacy by pointing out that his deputy Malcolm Pein and not him is running the show, but I prefer not to comment further. I am fully concentrated on delivering practical, real and achievable support instead of marketing promises.

SS: Do you think that for a country to grow in chess it needs more opportunities - for example, more tournaments being hosted there? Is that part of your plan?

WR: It depends on the specifics of the country or region, but growth always requires more than just a few headline tournaments. Our strategy is based on listening to every federation, understanding its particular needs and then creating opportunities not only for tournaments but also for education, training and development.

We will continue doing what we have already done successfully: building a chess culture that serious sponsors want to invest in, attracting new audiences and making events visually and commercially attractive so that federations can finally achieve the cash flow they have been missing for so long.

Right now, too many FIDE employees spend their time asking not for sponsorship, but for donations. Our plan is to turn chess into a product that generates continuous revenue: formats that work for broadcasters and digital platforms, events that fans want to watch, and partnerships that treat federations as real stakeholders. Gordon Tang and I know exactly how to build such ecosystems - we have already done it in other sports and in chess.

Of course, local opportunities are fundamental. Many federations have told me that their biggest obstacles sometimes are travel costs, visas and a lack of nearby rated events. Our programme therefore places "competition closer to home" at its core - support for tournaments, organisers and arbiters in each region so that players can earn ratings and experience without leaving their country.

This is linked directly to rating and development: more events mean more rating opportunities, more chances for arbiters and organisers to gain experience, and clearer pathways from school to club to national and international competition. Helping federations host more tournaments at home, with templates, equipment support and calendar coordination, sits at the heart of the federation-first, growth-oriented vision of WR 2026.

SS: On governance, you say leadership must be limited and accountable, that no individual should control FIDE indefinitely, and you propose a two-term presidential limit, separating governance from day-to-day operations, defining clear responsibilities and measurable objectives, and building a professional management structure. Do you feel a lot of this is missing at FIDE right now? And is this your experience of running a business that you want to bring into FIDE?

WR: What I want to eliminate from FIDE's future is the conflict of interest that we are currently witnessing. At the moment, far too much of FIDE's administrative resource is used to promote one candidate's campaign. This is embarrassing and literally destroys the reputation of FIDE in front of the IOC and other international institutions, and that is a huge issue. Delegates and arbiters are invited to events using FIDE budgets, and structures such as the International School Chess Federation are used in the same way, so FIDE is basically now being used as a campaign platform. This needs to stop immediately.

I remember African elections in which FIDE employees were effectively mobilised to gather delegates for private summits where certain candidates could speak. My team, including world champions and respected chess figures, was treated as an outsider. Under my leadership, FIDE resources will not be diverted for the personal use of any candidate.

I will forbid FIDE employees from working simultaneously for private companies whose interests may conflict with FIDE's mission. That is how serious sports organisations operate, and this is how you get recognised by the serious sports organisations and attract sustainable sponsors' trust and support.

Beyond that, WR 2026 commits to reinstating an uncompromising two-term presidential limit and to separating governance from day-to-day operations. All continents will have a real voice in decision-making, and every promise made by the FIDE Council will be transparent to member federations. That is the standard of accountability FIDE deserves.

FIDE still has too much dependence on personalities and not enough on structures that will outlast any individual. My experience leading WR Group in logistics, mining, real estate and infrastructure across more than seventy countries has taught me that only clear mandates, professional management and measurable objectives create sustainable institutions.

FIDE is a global organisation with more than 200 federations. It needs leadership that connects vision with execution, and that is exactly what this programme aims to deliver: an independent, neutral, trusted and professionally run FIDE that truly belongs to its member federations.

SS: You have said you want to build a live rating system that reflects real activity. Could you shed some light on this - does it mean that if a player is inactive, their rating will drop?

WR: I will definitely improve the rating system, but I will not impose a personal solution. Any change to such a central part of our sport must come from a serious, collective process.

We will collect proposals from top players, reputable chess practitioners and rating experts, and present them to the Council for discussion and decision. What I can guarantee is that the final system will be better than the current one, which satisfies almost nobody.

The starting point is that the Elo rating system remains central - it is part of the heritage and identity of chess - but it is not sufficient on its own to capture current competitive strength. My campaign therefore proposes an official live ratings list and a new ranking system in which activity, recent results and competitive performance are properly reflected, so that fans, organisers and federations can see who is truly active at each level.

In practice, this does not mean artificially pushing a player's rating down just because they are inactive. It means making inactivity visible, and giving more weight in selection to players who are actively competing and achieving results, with an emphasis on clarity and fairness, not punishment.

The goal is a live system that better reflects the reality of the sport for players, fans and federations, and fits WR 2026's broader commitment to clearer formats and fair competition.

SS: You also want to fix the global calendar and reduce overlap. Many people have said that chess needs a circuit, something like tennis - there are so many events that it has become difficult for a fan to follow. Do you feel that as well? And how would this sit alongside something like the Total Chess Tour?

WR: There are many ideas about how to improve the calendar, but one thing is clear to me as an organiser: for elite chess we often need fewer, stronger tournaments, not endless overlapping events.

We already have established tournaments such as the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis, built with vision and investment by Rex Sinquefield, yet FIDE currently ignores these pillars instead of working with them. My approach is the opposite: strengthen existing high-quality events and collaborate more, rather than fragmenting the chess world with competing calendars.

The future also lies in e-sports. At the moment, FIDE has almost no control or presence in that space. I intend to work with major e-sports organisers so that chess players can benefit from additional opportunities, prize funds and audiences; here, Gordon Tang's experience and contacts are invaluable.

As one of the largest chess organisers in the world, I know exactly which challenges we face, and I also know that organisers like us need FIDE's support - which is currently missing. The calendar must be discussed seriously at FIDE Council level, including the idea of bringing national events under one umbrella with consistent formats for national championships.

At the same time, my programme calls for streamlining FIDE's own portfolio of events according to a clear strategic plan and working with private organisers, continental bodies and federations to improve the calendar and reduce overlapping competitions, while strengthening fair play and presentation.

I do not see a well-structured circuit as competing with initiatives like the Total Chess Tour; instead, FIDE should provide the framework and calendar within which high-quality private tours can fit, so that fans can follow the season more easily and players can plan their year without constant clashes.

The aim is a global calendar that works: flagship events, regional competitions and private circuits aligned rather than colliding, creating a clearer narrative for fans and more sustainable conditions for players and organisers.

SS: You have said you want to elevate top events to the level of major international sports. Does that mean the prize fund, or something else?

WR: If I assume office, FIDE will attract many more sponsors than it does today. I want to eliminate the risk of one individual effectively "owning" world chess - that is extremely dangerous for any sport.

To grow chess, we must connect the game more strongly to every continent. I want to see far more top events in Africa and the Americas; the current balance is nowhere near where it should be.

Elevating events to the level of other major international sports means thinking strategically about visibility, advertising, broadcasting and digital engagement. We must turn chess into a commercial product that is genuinely attractive to global audiences, without losing its integrity. I have a proven track record in exactly this area and intend to use all of my experience to increase opportunities for FIDE and for chess as a whole.

Prize funds are part of the equation, and WR Chess has already demonstrated how private investment can bring more than €1 million in new prize money into chess and raise the level of competition.

But elevating top events goes far beyond prize money: it requires professional presentation, storytelling, broadcast standards, media engagement, strong venues and digital platforms that make the sport easier to follow and support.

My manifesto calls for improving the presentation and visibility of major events such as the World Championship cycle and the Chess Olympiad, rebuilding the FIDE brand into a more compelling global property and creating a professional audiovisual archive that protects chess's heritage and provides content for sponsors, media and education.

If we combine better prize structures with world-class production and a coherent commercial strategy, top chess events can stand alongside other international sports in seriousness, visibility, trust and value for federations and players.

SS: On development and education, you speak about building structured pathways from schools to elite competition, supporting federations with training, coaches and curriculum, connecting local, national and international levels of competition, and securing institutional recognition for chess in education systems. Chess in education is something everyone has been talking about for years, but it has never quite succeeded as a project - largely because every country is different. How would you approach it?

WR: To answer this frankly: we need to work better and more efficiently. The current FIDE management does not work in the right way and does not work hard enough. Without professional structures and clear priorities, even good ideas remain words on paper. My commitment is to turn "chess in education" from a slogan into a programme that federations can actually implement. And here is how.

The first principle is that chess-in-schools must be research-led and adapted to local realities; there is no single model that works equally well in every country.

WR 2026 therefore proposes mapping and consolidating chess-in-schools activity worldwide, building a stronger evidence base and helping federations develop teacher training, curriculum models, implementation guides and case studies that can be tailored to their own education systems.

At the same time, we will pursue institutional recognition of chess-in-schools programmes by national education ministries and international bodies such as UNESCO, so that chess gains a formal place in education policy and funding instead of remaining an optional extra.

This fits into a broader pathway: structured progress from school to club to national and international competition, supported by training, coaches, curriculum and inclusive projects for girls and learners with disabilities, so that talent can develop regardless of background, gender or location.

SS: On the commercial model, you say chess generates value but that value is not structured or fairly shared, and that you want to build a professional commercial operation within FIDE with clear revenue streams across events and media. You have been doing this yourself - WR Chess has funded a great many events. Bringing in new sponsors and new revenue streams is a very tough thing to do in chess. How would you go about it at FIDE level? And what do you say to the argument that chess is not a spectator-friendly sport and therefore not attractive for viewership?

WR: I partly agree and partly disagree with the premise of this question. If you look closely at major e-sports events, their atmosphere is comparable to top football matches. When chess is presented as an e-sport, the potential to attract new audiences is enormous - and we must explore this more aggressively.

At the same time, for many amateur viewers, traditional chess broadcasts can feel slow and lacking in entertainment value. Chess needs more entertainment: better commentary, clearer formats, and perhaps, in the long term, discussions about changes such as adjusting increments. Any such change would fundamentally affect the game and must therefore be debated carefully at FIDE Council level.

WR Chess has already shown that with the right formats and partnerships, we can bring significant new investment into chess.

At FIDE level, my plan is to establish a professional commercial and marketing department staffed by people with proven experience in sports revenue, sponsorship and media, rebuild the FIDE brand into a clearer global property, and develop a portfolio of commercial and digital assets - improved event brands, live platforms, fan-engagement tools and a "watch and play" concept that connects viewing with participation.

On the claim that chess is not spectator-friendly, I maintain that the problem lies in the presentation, not in the game itself. Fast classical formats, stronger storytelling, integrated digital tools and high-quality production can make chess much easier to understand and follow for wider audiences, without sacrificing classical chess or the integrity of the sport.

If FIDE leads on structure, commercial strategy and presentation, and private organisers continue to innovate, we can turn chess's global digital reach into sustainable value that is returned to federations, players and development projects, instead of remaining concentrated at the top.

SS: You are very young (born in 1990), you have built WR Group, and you are a busy man. What made you decide that you now want to run for the FIDE presidency? How will you manage the presidency alongside your businesses - and, since you have also just been elected President of the European Federation of Mixed Martial Arts, does time become an issue when you are leading two federations at once?

WR: I like this question because it goes to the heart of what real leadership is. Henry Ford once sent his department heads to the Caribbean for a few weeks and observed which departments continued to function and which collapsed. The ones that worked smoothly without their leaders kept those leaders; the ones that failed lost them. That story captures my own view: a strong leader builds systems and teams that function even when he is not physically present every day.

My success across my companies shows that I know how to delegate and build structures that work. I intend to apply exactly the same principles in FIDE. The problem we see today is a model of leadership that creates dependence on one person, with the message that without him FIDE will collapse. That is not leadership; that is a failure of leadership.

FIDE must never depend on a single individual. It must depend on a strong team and on healthy interaction between that team and the member federations.

I am young in age, but not in practice. I have been working since I was thirteen, without rich parents or frontmen to open doors for me. Everything I have built - companies, factories, sustainable ecosystems - I have built myself, through hard work and passion. I am self-made, and that experience matters when you are asked to lead a global sports federation.

In chess, I have been involved for three decades. As a child, I promised my grandfather that one day I would win the German Bundesliga; that promise stayed with me through years of building WR Group in logistics, mining, real estate and infrastructure across more than seventy countries, and returning to chess to rebuild my club and win the Bundesliga in 2025 was my way of honouring him.

Running for FIDE President is a continuation of that trajectory: using what I have learned in demanding markets to build structures that work for every federation, not just for my own club or country, in a modern FIDE that is more international, more professional and more useful to its members.

In business, and now in sports federations, my role is not to micromanage every operation personally but to build accountable teams with clear mandates. WR 2026 explicitly proposes a professional management structure inside FIDE, with responsibilities distributed across sport, member-federation services, education and commercial, so that the presidency focuses on direction, accountability and representation.

Time is always a challenge, but it is also a test of whether your systems are robust. Leading organisations across borders has taught me that with the right structures, you can align different interests without being everywhere at once - and that is exactly the kind of governance FIDE now needs.

SS: You have been travelling constantly - there are pictures of you in Lima, in Bangkok and elsewhere. How has that experience been, meeting not only chess people but also local politicians and leaders of these countries?

WR: I have been travelling since I was eighteen, and even at a young age I met country leaders, politicians and powerful people. Meeting them to discuss chess is an even greater honour for me than meeting them for business.

I genuinely love chess, and everyone who knows me understands how passionate I am about it. As FIDE President I will continue to do exactly what I am doing now: implement everything in my programme by staying close to federations and talking directly to the people who make decisions about sport.

It has been both humbling and instructive: you see clearly that every federation and every country faces different realities, and that good governance starts by listening before deciding. Through my direct involvement in chess — not just as an organiser but as a player — I know what federations need and want, because I hear it from them personally.

In Lima, for example, the World Chess Marathon brought together hundreds of players in a continuous multi-day format and set a world record for hours of play, but it also required cooperation with local authorities to create a safe, accessible venue.

Speaking to sports ministers, Olympic committees and local leaders has confirmed that recognition and practical support are just as important as prize funds; when chess is recognised as a sport or an educational tool at government level, federations gain access to facilities, funding and salaries that transform their capacity.

These travels have reinforced the core idea of WR 2026: FIDE must become more international not only in membership, but in behaviour, listening regularly to federations on all continents and responding with practical tools, social-impact projects and growth strategies instead of generic slogans.

SS: A newsletter from Jan Henric Buettner's team extended an invitation to the federations supporting your ticket to work together with them, and said they would welcome constructive cooperation with WR Chess on how it can continue to contribute to international chess within the FIDE framework. Do you have any thoughts on this?

WR: I am not impressed by these tactics. We already see how cooperation works in practice: many of the federations that were initially associated with Jan's ticket are now supporting mine and will be part of my team, not his.

Beyond his eight - now seven remaining - nominations, I am struggling to see serious working and practical proposals put forward by his team, and I am still trying to find something to convince me that this candidacy is really about chess. Other than that, I welcome any sincere offer of constructive cooperation that puts federations and the sport first, and I recognise that the interest in working with WR Chess comes from the tangible impact we have delivered for federations in practice.

WR Chess is a platform built to support players and organisers, and it has already worked in partnership with FIDE and many federations. That will continue regardless of electoral competition, because our responsibility is to the sport itself.

At the same time, FIDE needs clear governance boundaries: private initiatives like WR Chess or other organisers must contribute within a transparent framework, with rules that protect independence, neutrality and fairness for all federations. We have respected those boundaries, and we will keep doing so, so that FIDE becomes more beneficial to federations even when support comes from outside its formal structures.

If after the election other teams want to collaborate on formats, development projects or commercial structures that genuinely strengthen federations, respect FIDE's governance and align with a modern, trusted and international FIDE, I will always be open to those conversations.

SS: Finally, on your own projects: the WR Women's Chess Tour has travelled from Tokyo to Punta Cana and ends with the finals at Schloss Rosenstein in November - is this something that continues regardless of the election result? And on Bughouse, which you clearly love, you organised an event with a $100,000 prize fund and now have one more on the 29th August again. Is there something you want to do with Bughouse as a format?

WR: To be honest, I find the premise of this question strange. I have been consistently organising tournaments for years, and I will continue organising tournaments after 2026. Elevating chess is what I enjoy most, and nothing about the election changes that.

The WR Women's Chess Tour was built to provide a structured international circuit for women's competition across Asia, Africa and Europe, and to increase visibility and open new pathways at the top level; its mission does not depend on electoral results, so my intention is for it to continue and grow.

It is a concrete example of what we want FIDE to support more broadly: targeted programmes for girls and women, stronger role models, safer playing environments and better conditions in women's competitions as both sporting and development priorities.

Bughouse, which we supported with a major prize fund, shows that chess can also experiment with formats that are faster, more social and highly engaging for fans. As FIDE President, I would like to see Bughouse recognised and developed through side events and festivals, and in the long term I am open to staging world championship-level events in this format - while keeping classical chess and fair competition at the core of the sport.

Innovation is part of the WR 2026 programme, including the creation of an Innovation Department, and I believe formats like Bughouse can play a major role in outreach, media and participation if they are integrated thoughtfully into a coherent calendar, commercial model and social-impact strategy.

Important Links:

Wadim's website for FIDE President candidate

WR Chess website