Masaiti calls for chess two–voice representation model
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday September 21, 2026 06:00
FIDE elections will be held on September 26 at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Three candidates, Wadim Rosenstein, Jan Henric Buettner, and Timur Turlov, are seeking to succeed Arkady Dvorkovich. Masaiti has directed his message to the three presidential candidates, the FIDE council, the general assembly, continental bodies, and national federations.
In his proposal, he is calling for a two-voice representation model in which the institutional federation voice is complemented by an independently selected voice for recognised chess stakeholders.
According to Masaiti, the 2026 FIDE presidential election should be about more than who takes over the organisation.
“It is an opportunity to examine whether the governance architecture of world chess adequately reflects the people and communities that sustain the game,” he said.
“My proposal is that FIDE examine a two-voice representation model: one institutional federation vote and one independently selected stakeholder voice representing the wider chess community. The proposal is deliberately addressed to all presidential candidates and FIDE’s governing structures. It is not an endorsement of any candidate.”
Masaiti, a chess promoter, parent and International Organiser (IO) candidate, said his proposal was informed by his own experience of FIDE electoral politics.
In 2022, he participated in the FIDE elections in Chennai as the Africa representative candidate on a ticket headed by Grandmaster Andrii Baryshpolets, as well as serving as an election observer.
“That experience strengthened my conviction that the future of chess governance should be discussed not only in terms of federation administration, but also in terms of stakeholder legitimacy, transparency, and meaningful checks and balances.”
Masaiti said the model would retain the federation voice, represented by the president or an authorised FIDE delegate representing the institutional interests of the national federation, whilst creating a second voice for the wider chess community.
He suggested the stakeholder representative could represent players, coaches, parents, arbiters, organisers and other recognised contributors to the game.
“Players are the primary participants in the game, parents finance and sustain much of youth chess, coaches develop the next generation of talent, whilst organisers and arbiters make competitive chess possible and protect its integrity,” Masaiti said.
“Sponsors and partners also help create the resources that allow chess ecosystems to grow. These stakeholders are not peripheral to chess; they are part of the ecosystem that sustains it.”
The chess promoter challenged the presidential candidates to explain their positions on broader stakeholder representation, checks and balances, and the future of developing chess regions.
Amongst his questions are whether they would support a meaningful voice for players and grassroots stakeholders, an examination of FIDE’s electoral architecture, and an independent consultation or pilot project on stakeholder representation without undermining the constitutional role of national federations.
Masaiti also wants Africa to be treated as a strategic partner rather than simply a recipient of assistance.
“Africa represents one of the great untapped opportunities for the expansion of global chess, with large youth populations, emerging talent, committed parents, organisers, coaches and communities in which chess can become an educational and social development tool,” he said.
“The challenge is to move from a model in which potential is recognised rhetorically to one in which African federations are treated as genuine partners in strategy, investment, talent development and decision-making.”
Masaiti stressed that his proposal is neither a campaign endorsement nor an attack on any candidate or the incumbent.
“Presidential changes, council changes and campaigns come and go, but governance structures remain. The objective should therefore be to build structures strong enough to serve chess regardless of who occupies leadership positions. The question is not only who will lead FIDE; the question is what FIDE should become,” he said.