Wadim Rosenstein and the FIDE Presidential Election 2026: Why the Samarkand Vote Has Become a Test of Electoral Rules
The 2026 FIDE presidential election was expected to focus on the future direction of international chess. Instead, the final weeks before the vote have increasingly centered on a different question: whether the election process itself can guarantee equal participation for all eligible voters. A dispute over visas for several delegates traveling to Uzbekistan has created uncertainty ahead of the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand, where the next president of the International Chess Federation will be elected. The issue has also brought renewed attention to presidential candidate Wadim Rosenstein , whose position on how FIDE should respond differs from the approach outlined by the federation’s leadership. According to the FIDE Council statement on visa issues , the organization considers the ability of all eligible participants to attend and vote a key condition for holding the congress. A presidential race decided by federation votes The FIDE Presidential Election 2026 is ...