Chess-FIDE candidate Rosenstein targets Carlsen return and governance reform

Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen attends the news conference ahead of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Paris, France, April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

BENGALURU, Sept 18 (Reuters) - International Chess Federation (FIDE) presidential candidate ⁠Wadim Rosenstein said he would seek to bring Magnus Carlsen back into the classical world championship cycle if elected, while promising governance reforms, ⁠greater transparency and tougher conflict-of-interest rules.

The September 26 vote will determine the direction of a federation grappling with governance questions, Russia's role in ‌the sport and a debate over how to balance the game's classical traditions with its fast-growing commercial appeal.

Rosenstein said the classical world championship should remain the sport's premier title despite the growing popularity of freestyle, rapid, blitz and online formats.

The election will be held during FIDE's General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with Rosenstein facing German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner and Kazakh businessman Timur Turlov.

The race took shape ​after longtime FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich stepped aside following his inclusion on the European Union's latest ⁠sanctions list.

"Among all the presidential candidates, I think I have ⁠the best relations with Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura," Rosenstein, a German entrepreneur and chess promoter, told Reuters in an interview.

Norway's Carlsen, a five-times world champion, is ⁠the ‌world's top-ranked classical player, while American Nakamura is ranked second.

"I would love to bring them back into classical competition and I hope I will succeed."

Carlsen announced in 2022 that he would not defend his world title in 2023 and has not returned to the world championship cycle, increasingly focusing on other ⁠formats while continuing to play selected classical events.

His decision helped fuel a wider debate over ​how chess should balance its traditional format with changing ‌commercial interests and audience habits.

Rosenstein said the classical crown should remain at the centre of the sport.

"We need to communicate to the world ⁠that the most important title ​is the classical world championship," he said."We need to respect our traditions."

He said any review of the championship structure would require consultation with sponsors and national federations to ensure commercial considerations did not diminish the prestige of the title.

RUSSIA, BELARUS AND NEUTRALITY

Rosenstein said FIDE should continue to follow Court of Arbitration for Sport rulings concerning Russia and Belarus.

FIDE temporarily suspended the Russian ⁠Chess Federation in June after saying it had failed to comply within the prescribed deadline ​with a CAS ruling concerning the federation's incorporation of organisations from occupied Ukrainian territories.

"We have a CAS decision we need to follow. There is no way around it," Rosenstein said.

The status of Russian and Belarusian competitors has remained contentious across international sport since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with governing bodies balancing legal rulings, neutrality policies ⁠and political pressure.

Rosenstein said chess should remain a force for unity while operating within existing legal frameworks.

"Sport must be there to connect people, to bring peace into the world," he said.

Rosenstein, founder of WR Chess and chairman ofWR Group Holding, has faced questions during the campaign over potential conflicts of interest and his business links to Russia. WR Chess organises elite tournaments featuring some of the world’s leading grandmasters.

Rosenstein’s WR Group previously carried out logistics, certification and other projects in Russia, including work ​in the oil and gas sector, but he has said those projects were dropped after sanctions were imposed following ⁠Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

He rejected suggestions that private interests could influence FIDE decision-making under his leadership and said conflict-of-interest safeguards would be strengthened.

Under his proposed model, FIDE ​employees would not be permitted to work simultaneously for private chess organisations.

"If you are a FIDE employee, ‌you need to work on FIDE only," he said."There will be no conflict of ​interest at all."

Rosenstein said a central part of his programme would be to professionalise FIDE's internal operations and improve its commercial performance.

"Billions of people know what chess is, but we have only a few sponsors inside chess," he said.

(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)

Thank you for your report!

2025年4月7日，国际象棋特级大师马格努斯·卡尔森在法国巴黎出席自由式国际象棋大满贯巡回赛前的新闻发布会。（路透社/冈萨洛·富恩特斯摄）

班加罗尔，9 月 18 日（路透社）——国际象棋联合会（FIDE）主席候选人瓦迪姆·罗森斯坦表示，如果当选，他将努力让马格努斯·卡尔森重返古典世界冠军赛的周期，同时承诺进行治理改革，提高透明度，并制定更严格的利益冲突规则。

9 月 26 日的投票将决定该联合会的未来走向，该联合会正努力应对治理问题、俄罗斯在该运动中的角色以及如何平衡这项运动的传统与快速增长的商业吸引力等问题。

罗森斯坦表示，尽管自由式、快板、闪电战和在线比赛形式越来越受欢迎，但古典式世界锦标赛仍应是这项运动的最高荣誉。

选举将在国际棋联于乌兹别克斯坦撒马尔罕举行的全体大会期间举行，罗森斯坦将与德国企业家扬·亨里克·比特纳和哈萨克斯坦商人铁木尔·图尔洛夫展开角逐。

在国际棋联长期主席阿尔卡季·德沃尔科维奇因被列入欧盟最新制裁名单而辞职后，这场竞争逐渐成形。

“在所有总统候选人中，我认为我和马格努斯·卡尔森以及中村光的关系最好，”德国企业家兼国际象棋推广人罗森斯坦在接受路透社采访时表示。

挪威棋手卡尔森曾五次获得世界冠军，是世界排名第一的古典棋手，而美国棋手中村光排名第二。

“我非常希望他们能够重返古典赛场，我希望我能成功。”

卡尔森在 2022 年宣布他不会在 2023 年卫冕世界冠军头衔，并且没有重返世界冠军赛的赛程，而是越来越多地专注于其他形式的比赛，同时继续参加一些经典赛事。

他的决定引发了一场更广泛的辩论，即国际象棋应该如何在传统形式与不断变化的商业利益和观众习惯之间取得平衡。

罗森斯坦表示，古典式皇冠应该继续成为这项运动的核心。

他说：“我们需要向世界传达一个信息，那就是最重要的头衔是古典世界锦标赛冠军。我们需要尊重我们的传统。”

他表示，任何对锦标赛结构的审查都需要与赞助商和国家联合会进行磋商，以确保商业考量不会降低该头衔的声望。

俄罗斯、白俄罗斯与中立

罗森斯坦表示，国际棋联应继续遵循国际体育仲裁法庭对俄罗斯和白俄罗斯的裁决。

国际棋联 (FIDE) 于 6 月暂时中止了俄罗斯国际象棋联合会的会员资格，原因是该联合会未能在规定的期限内遵守国际体育仲裁法庭 (CAS) 关于其合并来自被占领乌克兰领土的组织的裁决。

罗森斯坦说：“我们必须遵守国际体育仲裁法庭的裁决，没有其他办法。”

自 2022 年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以来，俄罗斯和白俄罗斯运动员在国际体育界的地位一直备受争议，各管理机构都在努力平衡法律裁决、中立政策和政治压力。

罗森斯坦表示，国际象棋应该继续发挥促进团结的作用，同时在现有的法律框架内运作。

“体育应该起到连接人与人、为世界带来和平的作用，”他说。

WR Chess创始人兼WR集团控股公司董事长罗森斯坦在竞选期间因潜在的利益冲突及其与俄罗斯的商业联系而受到质疑。WR Chess组织精英赛事，参赛者包括一些世界顶尖的国际象棋特级大师。

罗森斯坦的 WR 集团此前在俄罗斯开展物流、认证和其他项目，包括石油和天然气领域的工作，但他表示，在俄罗斯 2022 年入侵乌克兰后实施制裁，这些项目都被取消了。

他驳斥了有关私人利益可能会影响国际棋联在他领导下的决策的说法，并表示将加强利益冲突保障措施。

根据他提出的方案，国际棋联员工不得同时为私人国际象棋组织工作。

“如果你是国际棋联的员工，你就只能为国际棋联工作，”他说。“绝对不会有任何利益冲突。”

罗森斯坦表示，他的计划的核心部分是使国际棋联的内部运营专业化，并提高其商业业绩。

他说：“数十亿人都知道国际象棋是什么，但我们在国际象棋界只有少数赞助商。”

（卡兰·普拉尚特·萨克塞纳在班加罗尔报道，托比·戴维斯编辑）

感谢您的报告！