Journalist and former FIDE Executive David Llada has announced his run for the position of Vice President on the FIDE Council. Llada says he sees missed opportunities within FIDE, and wants to make FIDE more modern and professional.

David Llada

David Llada

Journalist, former FIDE Executive

“My five years serving FIDE as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, from 2019 to 2023, allowed me to connect with amazing people from all over the world. But it also made me see firsthand the missed opportunities, the untapped potential, the mismanagement, and the poor decision-making.

Chess administration is run largely by former players who turned chess politics into a second career. Most are highly-intelligent, hard-working people, but often with little exposure to the private sector and a shaky grasp of marketing or how to build FIDE’s commercial side.

Specialists and professionals are scarce, because FIDE struggles to attract or keep them. Four marketing professionals, myself included, have left FIDE from the back door, either fired or resigned, in the past few years, unable to get on the same page as management.

Running is my way of getting a commercial perspective, and some fresh thinking, into that room. One vote out of fifteen isn’t much, but it’s more than zero.

The position is unpaid. I don’t represent a federation. I’m not bidding for any FIDE events. I have no personal agenda. I just want to help turn chess’s governing body into something more modern and more professional.”

The FIDE Council is the main decision-making governing body of FIDE. It directs day-to-day operations, adopts and updates regulations, monitors budgets, etc. The Changes to the World Chess Cup format were among the recent decisions of the FIDE Council.

David Llada is a prominent Spanish chess promoter, author, and media executive. He has worked as a journalist for a major Spanish newspaper El Mundo. David worked as the Director of Communications for the Internet Chess Club from 2023 to 2026.

The election of the Vice President on the FIDE Council will take place at the General Assembly 2026. It will take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from September 26 to 27. The FIDE Presidential elections will be held at the same event.

Credit: David Llada X