Timur Turlov, Chief Govt Officer of Freedom Holding Corp.
PARTNER CONTENT
From July 6 to 11, Stellenbosch College, close to Cape City, will host the African Continental Stage of the FIDE ISCF World Faculties Staff Championship (WSTC), bringing collectively college groups from throughout the continent. Collectively organised by FIDE and ISCF, with Freedom Holding Corp. serving as the final companion, the event will decide which African staff advances to the worldwide WSTC remaining scheduled for December.
How the Championship Will Unfold
Twenty nationwide college groups have registered for the African stage, representing South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Tanzania, Madagascar, São Tomé and Príncipe, Zambia, Uganda, and Burundi. The contributors, aged between eight and fourteen, will compete in a staff format. Alongside the event, organisers have ready an academic program that features lectures, masterclasses, and workshops designed for younger gamers, coaches, and academics.
The occasion types a part of a broader worldwide championship that has expanded considerably since its launch. The World Faculties Staff Chess Championship was first held in Aktau, Kazakhstan, in 2023. Initially conceived as a world competitors for varsity groups, the event has since developed into a world championship consisting of continental qualifying occasions adopted by a world remaining. This yr’s competitors started in April with the Asian stage in Kazakhstan, the place Uzbekistan’s Knowledge College secured qualification for the ultimate. Following the African event in Cape City, extra continental levels might be held in Europe in addition to Americas earlier than the successful groups meet in December to compete for the world title.
The championship is organised beneath the auspices of the Worldwide Chess Federation (FIDE) in partnership with the Worldwide College Chess Federation (ISCF), which focuses particularly on creating chess in colleges and integrating the sport into academic methods. In September 2024, the FIDE Basic Meeting supported granting affiliated-organisation standing to ISCF. Right now, the federation coordinates worldwide college chess initiatives, helps continental competitions, and works with nationwide chess organizations and training methods to increase entry to chess for younger college students.
Past organising competitions, the partnership between FIDE and the ISCF locations appreciable emphasis on training. The continental championships are designed not solely to determine the strongest college groups but additionally to create alternatives for college kids and academics to change experiences, take part in workshops, and interact with main figures from the worldwide chess group. This academic part accompanies every continental stage.
Why Timur Turlov Helps Chess Across the World
Freedom Holding Corp., a number one fintech firm working in 22 nations, has supported the championship since its inception and serves as one in all its principal companions. The corporate’s founder and Chief Govt Officer, Timur Turlov, can be President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and President of the Worldwide College Chess Federation (ISCF). Mr. Turlov is an avid chess fanatic himself and has spent greater than three years selling and creating the sport each in Kazakhstan, the place Freedom is headquartered, and internationally. In his view, chess performs an necessary function in creating cognitive talents and might make a big optimistic contribution to the mental progress of youngsters and younger folks.
“Chess is a novel sport. It shapes the way in which we expect, teaches self-discipline and decision-making, and helps us perceive the results of our actions. I say this not solely as President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and the Worldwide College Chess Federation, but additionally as a father whose youngsters play chess. Recreation after sport, they study persistence, they learn to win, and, simply as importantly, lose with dignity,” stated Timur Turlov.
Turlov can be one of many wealthiest folks in Kazakhstan, with an estimated internet value of round $5.5 billion. Freedom Holding Corp., a fintech enterprise working in 22 nations, has been listed on NASDAQ beneath the ticker FRHC since 2019. As of as we speak, the holding firm’s market capitalisation is round $7.5 billion. Turlov’s enterprise operates throughout a number of sectors, starting from banking, funding and telecommunications companies to way of life and media. Collectively, these companies type Freedom’s digital ecosystem, which Turlov is creating in the US, Europe and Central Asia.
In 2025, Freedom Holding Corp. partnered with FIDE and the ISCF to organise the World Faculties Staff Chess Championship in the US. The occasion introduced collectively greater than fifty college groups from completely different nations and launched the Sensible Strikes Summit, an academic discussion board held alongside the competitors. The summit gathered representatives of FIDE, nationwide chess federations, educators, researchers, and ed-tech entrepreneurs to debate the function of chess in training, cognitive improvement, and classroom studying.
Freedom Holding Corp. has additionally expanded its involvement within the chess ecosystem by know-how. In April 2026, the corporate acquired ChessBase, one of many world’s oldest and most generally used suppliers of chess software program, databases, and analytical instruments. Freedom introduced plans to speculate €5 million within the platform whereas offering entry to its digital ecosystem, which serves greater than 14 million customers.
Turlov has performed a distinguished function within the improvement of chess in Kazakhstan. Since turning into President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation in 2023, he has overseen a interval throughout which Kazakhstani gamers have gained 448 medals at official worldwide competitions. Throughout the identical interval, the federation has expanded packages geared toward rising youth participation and strengthening the nation’s aggressive chess system.
One of many federation’s priorities has been the introduction of chess into the training system. Supported by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, this system has expanded steadily, and as we speak greater than 1,500 colleges throughout Kazakhstan embrace chess as a part of their academic curriculum. The initiative seeks to make chess extra accessible to youngsters at an early age whereas integrating it into broader academic packages.
In line with Freedom Holding, the corporate allocates greater than $15 million yearly to the event of chess by tournaments, academic initiatives, youth packages, infrastructure, and worldwide initiatives. These efforts mix assist for elite competitors with initiatives geared toward increasing participation in class chess each in Kazakhstan and internationally.
