With no candidate securing the required majority, the FIDE presidential election will go to a second round between Turlov and Rosenstein. Buettner’s elimination leaves his 20-vote first-round tally as the potential swing bloc in the final ballot, although delegates must vote again rather than having their votes automatically transferred.
BY PC Bureau
September 26: Kazakhstan’s Timur Turlov, running for FIDE president with India’s five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand as deputy president, led the first round of voting at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand on Saturday, but fell one vote short of the majority required for an outright victory.
Turlov secured 96 votes, followed by Germany’s Wadim Rosenstein with 76 and fellow German candidate Jan Henric Buettner with 20, according to the first-round result.
With no ticket securing the required majority, Buettner has been eliminated and the election will now go to a second round between Turlov and Rosenstein.
READ: Wangchuk Says India Worse Than China in Ladakh, Draws All-round Flaks
The election is being conducted through combined presidential tickets. FIDE’s official list has Turlov paired with Anand, Rosenstein with Gordon Tang, and Buettner with Malcolm Pein.
Turlov’s 96 votes put him just short of the majority on the first ballot. The second round will determine the winner between the two remaining tickets, with Buettner’s 20 supporters becoming a potentially important bloc in the final vote. The votes do not automatically transfer; delegates vote again in the second ballot.
🗳♟The FIDE Presidential Election goes to a second round.
First-round results:
Timur Turlov — 96 votes
Wadim Rosenstein — 76 votes
Jan Henric Buettner — 20 votes192 votes were cast.
The second round will be between Timur Turlov and Wadim Rosenstein. pic.twitter.com/yKtzkxihXs
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) September 26, 2026
FIDE’s General Assembly is being held in Samarkand alongside the 46th Chess Olympiad. Each eligible member federation represented at the Assembly has one vote. The final threshold depends on the number of valid votes cast in the second round.
The first-round result sets up a direct contest between Turlov and Rosenstein after a three-way race that also included Buettner. Turlov, president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, entered the election alongside Anand, whose candidacy for deputy president is part of the joint ticket.
The second ballot is expected to decide who will lead FIDE for the next four-year term.
