MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. Russia’s Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), announced on Thursday he intended to submit his candidacy for re-election in 2018.

"I will be once again submitting my candidacy in 2018 so I will be fighting for the right to be in charge of the International Chess Federation," Ilyumzhinov told journalists.

Russian businessman and longtime FIDE President Ilyumzhinov was reelected to this post in August 2014 beating former world chess champion Garry Kasparov. Ilyumzhinov won 110 votes while Grandmaster Kasparov was supported by 61 FIDE members.

The 53-year-old FIDE president, who headed the federation since 1995, promised to seek the introduction of chess in the program of Winter Olympics. In 2010, Ilyumzhinov faced a similar challenge by another former world champion, Anatoly Karpov, Kasparov's long-time rival.