Former FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced his retirement from chess on July 27. Ilyumzhinov says it’s important to leave on time, notes that he’s spent over $100 million on chess development during his career.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Former FIDE President

“Today I made a decision—I’m leaving chess and suspending all of my chess activities. I’m putting chess in the closet.

I’ve analyzed my career a lot. I’ve received all the titles I could have earned as FIDE President. We’ve united the chess world, and the International Olympic Committee has recognized chess as an Olympic sport. But I have to leave on time.

On the one hand, I’m sad. I’ve spent over $100 million on chess development. But chess is everything to me. I’m locking it in the closet and won’t be taking it out again.”

On July 20, Ilyumzhinov announced his candidacy for the 2026 FIDE Presidential elections. On July 26th, Kirsan was not included in the official list of candidates for the elections.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is a Russian entrepreneur and politician. He served as the President of FIDE from 1995 to 2018. Ilyumzhinov was stripped of his executive powers in 2017 and formally stepped down in 2018. The reason for the end of his term was that the U.S. government placed him on a financial blacklist for political reasons.

Credit: David Llada