Christodoulides meets FIDE and Freedom24 leaders to discuss Cyprus chess development

Nicosia, Cyprus. President Nikos Christodoulides met on Monday with Timur Turlov, president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), and Evgenii Tiapkin, Freedom24 chief executive, at Nicosia’s Presidential Palace to discuss developing chess in Cyprus.

Plans for chess in Cyprus

Discussions covered Cyprus’ expanding position in European chess and ways to extend the gains achieved since Freedom’s partnership with the Cyprus Chess Federation began in 2023.

“In three years, Cyprus has become one of Europe’s chess hubs, and we want to keep building on that,” Turlov said.

He also said presenting the plans for chess in Cyprus to Christodoulides had been important and expressed gratitude for the president’s time and attention to the game.

International funding programme

Turlov, who also founded Freedom Holding Corp and serves as its chief executive, won election as FIDE president at its Samarkand congress on September 26.

His 2027–2030 programme proposes approximately €30 million over four years to develop chess. This includes a yearly development fund worth €6.2 million, close to four times the existing budget.

The proposed fund would support tournaments, youth players, education in chess, coaches, arbiters, digital tools and women’s chess.

Tournaments hosted on the island

Cyprus has staged 26 tournaments since Freedom took on the role of general partner to the Cyprus Chess Federation in 2023. These included Nicosia stages of the FIDE Women’s World Grand Prix in 2023 and 2025.

Cyprus also staged the 2026 Candidates Tournament at Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort, attracting leading international players with a prize pool of €1 million. It was the first occasion in the island’s chess history that the tournament had gathered the world’s leading contenders in Cyprus.