Hello, I’m Ilya Merenzon.
I run World Chess, the official FIDE gaming platform, from Berlin and London.

Now Enamel pins for the Geneva 2026 World Championship match. One per week until the first game.
Lately

Wrote a book, This Is Not a Book About Chess. | Sep 2026

Took the company public in London. | 2023

Projects

All projects →
Chess Players Books · St Teresa, the Parton Saint of Chess Saints · Russian Povera Books · This Is Not a Book About Chess Books ·

Latest

Everything →
  1. Who Actually Sponsors Chess? Spoiler: Not Rolex. This is a story about the ideal sponsor for chess — or, more precisely, why the “ideal” hasn’t shown up yet. We Business of Chess ·
  2. Chess Opening Ceremonies Suck. Let's Make Them Fun Again. I know this because I organized a few. Here's what they actually look like from the inside: a government minister Business of Chess ·
  3. National Chess Federations Are About to Become a Real Business Here's something nobody in sports business is paying attention to: national chess federations are about to become genuinely valuable. Not Chess Politics ·
  4. Chess Politics Needs Real Coalitions Chess politics needs real coalitions. For a sport built on strategy, chess has one of the least strategic political systems imaginable. FIDE Chess Politics ·