The FIDE Presidential elections 2018 will take place in Georgia's city of Batumi on October 3. Other candidates are Georgios Makropoulos, who has been FIDE Deputy President since 1996 and English chess grandmaster Nigel Short.

The FIDE Ethics Commission suspended the organization’s President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for alleged violations of FIDE Code of Ethics on July 13.

"Gianni Infantino expressed his interest in cooperation with FIDE if I win the elections. It can be useful for both organizations. The intellectual side of the chess can help in developing football. In two days I'll throw myself into chess. We were good at hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup and I hope we win the FIDE Presidential elections as well," Dvorkovich told journalists.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the final set to be played at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.