Arkady Dvorkovich, a former deputy prime minister of Russia who has run world chess since 2018, was standing for a third term. The third is Timur Turlov, a 38-year-old Kazakh billionaire, with Anand as his deputy. A number of analysts believe Turlov’s victory would suit Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Kazakh president, rather well. In 2023, Tokayev personally asked Turlov to lead the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, an appointment that raised eyebrows, since Turlov had neither played professionally nor administered the game before. Whether world chess would gain anything is a different question, and one the delegates have seven weeks to ask.