NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / September 17, 2026 / Freedom Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:FRHC) is the General Partner of the Salesforce FIDE World Championship Match 2026, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and Freedom announced today. General Partner is the highest partnership tier of the World Championship.
The Match runs from 22 November to 12 December. The Opening Ceremony takes place on 22 November at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju of India defends his title against Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan over 14 classical games. Both players will be twenty at the start of the Match, the youngest title contest since the series began in 1886.
Freedom has been a strategic partner of FIDE since 2023. The group is a regular sponsor of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships and was the title sponsor of the 2024 FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship in New York. Under a 2026 cooperation agreement, Freedom also funds FIDE tournaments, training centres, school programmes and talent scouting across all continents. The World Championship extends that partnership to the sport's defining event.
Timur Turlov, founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., is also President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and head of the International School Chess Federation, regulating body for chess in education. The Championship sponsorship reflects how Freedom approaches the game: as a system to be built over years, from the classroom to the championship board.
"The World Championship decides who is first. There is nothing bigger in chess," said Timur Turlov. "Freedom has worked with FIDE for three years, and this is the natural next step, not a logo on a stage. Chess and finance are the same discipline: you calculate, you decide under uncertainty, you refuse the obvious move, and you plan far ahead. We invest in chess on that horizon."
"Freedom has committed to chess seriously, over years and at every level of the game," said Viswanathan Anand, five-time World Champion and FIDE Interim President. "To have them behind a World Championship contested by two twenty-year-olds is fitting. This company understands chess is a long game, and this Match is its future."
About Freedom Holding Corp.
Freedom Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: FRHC) is a U.S.-listed diversified financial and technology group headquartered in Kazakhstan, operating brokerage, banking, insurance, telecom and lifestyle services in more than twenty countries. A strategic partner of FIDE since 2023, Freedom treats chess as a long-horizon cultural and educational investment.
About FIDE
The International Chess Federation (FIDE), founded in 1924 and headquartered in Switzerland, is the governing body of world chess and organiser of the World Championship cycle.
Contact Information:
Natalia Kharlashina
Head of Public Relations
prglobal@ffin.kz
+77013641454
SOURCE: Freedom Holding Corp.
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https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/banking-and-financial-services/freedom-holding-corp.-backs-the-fide-world-championship-match-2026-a-1222887
