WR 2026

Official campaign of Wadim Rosenstein
Candidate for FIDE President
Federations at the centre of FIDE

Full Programme ⬇️

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

Good chess-in-schools programmes already exist around the world. But too often, what works in one country stays there — while another federation has to start again from zero.

WR 2026 proposes bringing that knowledge together: giving teachers practical tools, understanding what genuinely helps children, and helping federations turn successful projects into lasting programmes.

If we can prove what works, federations will have a much stronger case when they ask education ministries to give chess a permanent place in schools.

Chess in schools does not need more disconnected initiatives. It needs a system.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

Chess can be a tool for education, inclusion and opportunity. But meaningful social impact requires more than good intentions.

WR 2026 proposes a research-led approach to development: start with real needs, work with credible partners, use evidence, ensure proper safeguarding and measure impact.

This means being clear about where chess can genuinely make a difference, and building programmes around evidence and practical results.

The goal is to identify the areas where chess can make a real and measurable contribution.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

♟️ Chess belongs to everyone.

Today marks the opening of the 3rd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities in Samarkand.

A record field of teams. Players with visual, hearing and physical impairments. One board, one game, one shared passion.

To every player competing:
MAY YOUR TALENT TAKE CENTRE STAGE.

Good luck to every player and team!

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

Strong partnerships do not happen by accident. They require professional work.

WR 2026 proposes establishing a professional commercial and marketing department within FIDE, staffed by people with proven experience in sports revenue, marketing, communications, sponsorship and partnership development.

FIDE should set ambitious but realistic commercial objectives, with clear accountability for results.

Alongside this, FIDE should prioritise practical digital products and services for federations, players, organisers, viewers, broadcasters, sponsors and fans.

These tools should make chess easier to follow, organise, promote, commercialise and participate in.

The objective as simple as to turn chess’s global reach into practical value for the whole chess community.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

FIDE should not limit its commercial ambition to chess-related or technology partners. Chess has the reach, positive image and intellectual value to attract credible international partners from a much wider business field. That creates an opportunity, but only if it is approached professionally.

That can include industries such as aviation, banking and financial services, education, media, hospitality, logistics, fashion, energy and technology.

Major partnerships should be developed professionally and be subject to appropriate reputational, legal and governance review.

For WR 2026, commercial growth is not an end in itself. It must serve chess, players, development and Member Federations.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

Chess does not need fewer competitions. It needs a clearer strategy for the competitions FIDE itself is responsible for.

The WR 2026 Programme proposes streamlining FIDE’s event portfolio according to a clear strategic plan, while protecting the heritage, presentation and visibility of the World Championship cycle, the Chess Olympiad and other flagship competitions.

For players, clarity matters too. Different formats and a crowded international schedule require constant preparation and adaptation. FIDE cannot control every tournament in the world, but it can make its own competitions more coherent, predictable and professionally structured.

Better coordination with federations, continental bodies and private organisers should support that process where possible, without pretending that every overlap can be eliminated.

Strong events need more than a place on the calendar. They need a clear purpose, a clear place in the sporting structure and conditions that allow players to perform at their best.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

Stronger federations mean stronger chess.

Our programme starts with practical support: better tools, training, digital services and recognition.

FIDE should work for the federations it serves.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

Too many girls leave chess during their teenage years, or never fully find their place in it, because they lack peers, role models, safe environments or visible pathways.

Wadim Rosenstein has already been working to build those pathways. In 2026, the WR Women's Chess Tour has brought four continental legs to Tokyo, Punta Cana, Maputo and Saint-Tropez, with the Grand Final to follow in Stuttgart on 22–23 November.

The WR 2026 Programme proposes going further, including targeted girls' programmes, group coaching and mentoring, more women trainers and arbiters, safer playing environments, stronger role models and improved conditions in women's competitions.

Women's chess should be both a sporting priority and a development priority.

The goal is not only to bring more girls into chess. It is to help them stay, progress and see a future in the game.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

WR 2026 is strengthened by people who understand chess from more than one side. GM Antoaneta Stefanova is one of them.

The 10th Women’s World Champion, a European Women’s Champion and a Women’s World Rapid Champion, Antoaneta has spent decades at the highest level of international chess. But the perspective she brings to WR 2026 goes far beyond her achievements at the board.

Today, she is Honorary President of the Bulgarian Sports Chess Federation. This combination matters. Antoaneta understands the realities faced by elite players as well as the perspective and challenges of national federations.

She also brings a long-standing commitment to women’s chess and to creating opportunities for the next generation.

For WR 2026, Antoaneta brings something particularly valuable. Especially, the perspective of a champion, the experience of a federation leader, and a voice shaped by chess at every level.

We are proud to have GM Antoaneta Stefanova on the WR 2026 team.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

What happens when Team USA and Team Uzbekistan meet across the board in Miami?

Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian and Leinier Dominguez on one side. Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Shamsiddin Vokhidov and Mukhiddin Madaminov on the other.

WR Chess brought them together for two days of rapid and blitz in a four-board team match. Team USA won 14-10, but the final score was only part of the story. The real point was to create a matchup people would want to watch and a format that could be tested in front of players and spectators.

The Miami event was another example of Wadim Rosenstein's approach to event development by practicing it. Miami was not a proposal or a presentation. The event was created, the players arrived, the clocks started. Thus, the format was tested in real competition.

So, which two national teams should meet next?

[Wadim Rosenstein @WadimRosenstein]

Let’s talk about investment and sponsorship in chess.

We start with an endorsement from BYD - a global company operating on a scale of around $100 billion.

BYD shares our belief in the enormous untapped global potential of chess and in what FIDE can become. I am grateful for their trust and support.

My international business experience and global network give me access to some of the world’s largest companies, whose combined scale is measured in trillions of dollars.

For chess, this can mean major sponsorship and investment, technology, global distribution, new audiences and commercial partnerships on a completely different scale.

I know how to bring global business and global chess to the same table.

We are talking Champions League level and BYD is a powerful example of what that looks like.

[Hend F Q @LadyVelvet_HFQ]

Chess has a funny way of exposing the difference between making moves and understanding the position.
Wadim Rosenstein has shown that supporting chess means supporting the entire ecosystem — players, teams, clubs, coaches, arbiters and tournaments.
In a game where everyone sees the board, leadership is about seeing three moves further.
The board is set. ♟️
@WadimRosenstein @WR2026official

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

New ideas in chess can be debated for years. Sometimes, they can also be introduced too quickly, without enough testing, communication or feedback.

There is a more practical way.

The principle is familiar from modern agile management, which is about introducing change through testing, learning and adaptation, rather than applying it all at once.

Chess can use the same approach.

At the 2024 WR Chess Masters Cup in London, a faster classical time control was tested in a real tournament. The aim was not to declare a new standard or to replace classical chess. It was to test whether a faster format could complement it, and to see how the format worked in practice for players, organisers, spectators, arbiters and federations, and to learn from the experience.

The same principle can apply to other innovations in chess. Start with a pilot, communicate clearly, listen to the people involved, measure what works, improve what does not, and then take the next step.

Change works better when the people and institutions affected by it are part of the process.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

Federations are asked for their vote. But how often are they asked what would actually make their work easier?

Not what looks good in a report. Not what sounds impressive from a stage. What would make a real difference on Monday morning?

More affordable tournaments for your players? Better training for coaches and arbiters? Equipment? Digital services that actually work? Support in working with ministries or attracting sponsors?

Tell us what your federation needs first.

[Hend F Q @LadyVelvet_HFQ]

The discussion around Wadim Rosenstein’s support for German chess should be based on facts, not political rhetoric.
Wadim’s involvement in German chess dates back to 2022 and has included support for teams, players, clubs, trainers, arbiters and tournaments. That history deserves to be considered in its full context.
Disagreements between candidates are inevitable in any election. But allegations should be addressed through the appropriate FIDE processes—with transparency, evidence and due process—not through public accusations and counter-accusations.
For me, the fundamental question is simple: which programme can deliver stronger development, greater resources and sustainable opportunities for federations, players and the wider chess community?
Chess deserves an election focused not on personal attacks, but on performance, solutions and the future of our sport.
@WR2026official

[Wadim Rosenstein @WadimRosenstein]

THERE MUST BE A LIMIT

Elections can be tough. Political competition can be very tough. But there is a line between fighting for votes and trying to remove an opponent from the electoral process itself.

Timur Turlov’s campaign accused me of bribery, corruption and improper financial influence because of a transparent sponsorship agreement supporting German chess. They then went further and demanded the exclusion not only of me as a candidate for FIDE President, but also of the German Chess Federation.

The FIDE Electoral Commission has now ruled that both requests were inadmissible: I‘m not excluded. Germany is not excluded. No interim measures have been imposed.

This matters not only because the attempt to remove me from the election failed. One of the most respected chess federations in the world was dragged into this dispute, and its reputation was put at risk purely as part of a political fight against an opponent.

That is not how this should work. Neither Germany nor any other national federation should become an instrument in an election campaign, or collateral damage in an attempt to eliminate a candidate.

The remaining ethics allegations have not yet been decided on their merits and may still be referred to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission. I am fully prepared to defend our position there. But one thing has already happened: the attempt to use these allegations as a way to change the field of candidates has failed.

And this is where the fundamental line must be drawn. Candidates should compete on their programmes, their teams, their experience and their vision for the future of FIDE. They can argue. They can criticise each other. They can run a tough campaign. But elections should not be decided through attempts to remove an opponent by administrative means and place a national federation under attack in the process.

Timur Turlov wants to lead FIDE. Then he should be prepared to win this election through the votes of the federations, not through attempts to exclude those who stand against him. I am ready for that kind of election.

Let the federations compare us.

Let the federations decide.

And let the winner be the candidate they genuinely trust with the future of FIDE.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

A promise is easy to make. A deadline is harder to meet.

The WR 2026 programme sets out what happens in the first 100 days after the election, and when.

Days 1-30. A Global Federation Needs Assessment is conducted for all federations. The results are published with clear priorities and criteria, and a Federation Support Action Plan is defined and shared.

Days 31-70. Every federation is assigned a named FIDE contact. Response times are tracked and published. New communication standards are introduced and applied.

Days 71-100. Phase one of the Federation Toolkit is introduced, pilot projects start across selected federations, and the first calendar coordination and commercial adjustments begin.

By day 100, every federation should be able to say what has changed. That is the point of putting dates on a programme.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

Azzedine Brahim Djelloul - President of the Algerian Chess Federation.

Mr Brahim Djelloul's involvement in chess began in his native Oran, where he founded, coached and captained several clubs. He spent nearly two decades building the game at regional level, presiding over the Oran Chess League from 1998 to 2016. He was elected President of the Algerian Chess Federation in 2017, and continues to serve in that role today.

Under his presidency, Algeria has expanded its international footprint, qualifying a record three players for the 2021 World Cup and Women's World Cup in Sochi. He established the country's first internationally accredited chess academy and has placed particular emphasis on school chess and the development of Algeria's young women players. In February 2022, he was elected Vice-President of the Arab Chess Union.

He has championed chess as an Olympic sport under the motto "It's time for Olympic chess". As part of these efforts, chess appeared for the first time at the Mediterranean Games in Oran in 2022 as an exhibition sport and returned to the Arab Games in Constantine in 2023 as a full competitive discipline.

This is the experience Azzedine brings to WR 2026. He knows how much can be achieved when people working on the ground receive the right support. Our programme follows the same principle: support for federations should reflect their real circumstances rather than offer everyone the same standard solution.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

In many countries, chess is kept alive by a small number of committed people. They run clubs, organise tournaments and train players, often with limited resources.

A single grant may solve an immediate problem. But it cannot provide a federation with a development strategy.

The WR 2026 programme proposes long-term development plans based on the real needs of each federation. That support may include training, digital services, equipment, or organisational expertise.

The aim is not to offer every federation the same package. It is to help each federation build what it actually needs.

[WR 2026 @WR2026official]

Eloi Relange has led the French Chess Federation since 2021. During that time, the number of active licences has grown by 84%, from 50,000 to 92,000. The federation has also joined the French National Olympic and Sports Committee and obtained official delegation status from the Ministry of Sports.

His experience goes beyond federation leadership. An International Grandmaster since 1998, Eloi was also one of the early pioneers of digital chess media. Between 1999 and 2001, he produced and hosted Diagonale on CANALWEB and directed live coverage of major international events, including the Kasparov-Kramnik World Championship match in London.

This combination of experience as a player, digital expertise and federation leadership is why Eloi is part of the WR 2026 team. He knows that federations do not grow through a single standard formula. They grow when support reflects their real circumstances.