Ilyumzhinov Takes Back The Future Bid To Be FIDE President To Moscow: Can He Beat Dvorkovich?

We thought he was joking—we really did. But Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the man who ruled chess for 20 colourful years, really is trying to come back.

The 7th president of the world chess federation FIDE, who once claimed he was abducted by aliens, is taking his bid to return to the game's most powerful position to Moscow.

On Friday, the 64-year-old Ilyumzhinov will make his case in the Russian capital as the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) decides who to nominate as its pick for the upcoming election.

Illyumzhinov faces a tough task, however, and the odds are unlikely to favour him. Surely, behind closed doors, the CFR has already made a decision? This is merely a formality.

The incumbent Arkady Dvorkovich, another Russian former politician, has maintained an iron grip over FIDE since he replaced Ilyumzhinov in 2028.

Dvorkovich was re-elected by a landslide in 2022 and is going for a third four-year term having ditched the two-term limit his administration introduced after it first came to power.

The question is, has his eight-year reign been deemed a success at home—or does Moscow want a return to the certainties of the past?

Is the CFR fearful of new EU sanctions being imposed on their man, as was rumoured earlier this year? Perhaps Ilyumzhinov, once a quasi-dictator of the Republic of Kalmykia, is being kept as a back-up? The machinations of the Russian federation always keep chess fans guessing.

In order to retain his post, Dvorkovich is first required to address the CFR's Supervisory Board and defeat Ilyumzhinov to formally gain the backing of Russia—arguably the most influential national federation in world chess.

This year's FIDE presidential election is scheduled for September and will take place when delegates from FIDE's 200 federation members meet at its General Assembly in Samarkand.

The official election period for the FIDE presidency begins on June 26, when candidates are permitted to start campaigning.

A notice on the CFR's website said that the Supervisory Board's voting closes at 18:00 PM Moscow time on Friday, June 5.

CFR president Andrey Filatov told the state-owned news agency TASS: "The Supervisory Board's vote began today and will conclude on Friday. We anticipate that Dvorkovich and Ilyumzhinov will be vying for the FIDE presidency—both worthy candidates respected in the chess world."