Richard Lutz withdraws candidacy for Chess Federation presidency

Richard Lutz didn’t approach the matter completely naively. When the former CEO of Deutsche Bahn announced his willingness to run for president of the German Chess Federation (DSB) by email in mid-April, he wrote to the voting members of the DSB Federal Congress about, among other things, “distrust, self-interest, division and camp formation” within the association. So he suspected which snake pit he was going into. But it seems as if he still underestimated the conditions. That at least would be an explanation for why Lutz sent around a second one just three weeks after his first letter, subject: “Waiver of team candidacy for DSB presidency at the extraordinary federal congress on May 16, 2026”.

The five pages that the South German newspaper present, resemble a billing. The 62-year-old particularly sharply criticizes the regional associations, which receive the vast majority of votes in the election of a new executive committee. According to his impression, there is a deep division and in many places people are stuck in “traditional rituals of maintaining power, exerting influence and the need for recognition,” says Lutz, who also writes of “manipulations and intrigues” that he considers “reprehensible and indecent”. “By the way, I say this without any negative emotions: I am neither offended nor angry.” Richard Lutz did not respond to a request for an interview from the SZ by Monday afternoon.

If you asked around the regional associations in the past few weeks, there were two main things to be heard regarding the ex-Bahn boss’s possible candidacy: relief and surprise.

Many were relieved that Richard Lutz, a presumably capable manager (and lifelong chess player), had agreed to take over the divisive association. Because, to put it cautiously, very few people deny that there is room for improvement. The current presidium led by Ingrid Lauterbach, who has been in office since May 2023, is considered by many to be no longer acceptable. It’s less about the content of the work – Lauterbach led the DSB out of a serious financial crisis, among other things – but more about her leadership and communication style. It is said that she trusts neither her employees nor her colleagues on the executive board and is largely resistant to advice – something she has repeatedly rejected, most recently in an interview with the SZ on Monday: “Untruths” are being spread and some people take themselves “too seriously,” said Lauterbach on the phone. Despite everything, in June 2025 she was elected for a second term with a narrow majority. But there was no peace and quiet, on the contrary.

Out of anger over the immediate dismissal of a long-standing and popular employee at the DSB office, the state chairmen wanted to ask a kind of vote of confidence last October. That failed due to formal hurdles, but after Lauterbach’s Vice President of Finance, Alexander von Gleich, resigned a few months later, her days as DSB President were finally considered numbered. An extraordinary federal congress has been called, which will take place this Saturday in Frankfurt am Main. Among other things, a motion to vote out the Lauterbach Presidium is on the agenda. It was considered very likely that the application would be successful. Until Richard Lutz withdrew his candidacy.

Richard Lutz probably stumbled over his central condition: he wanted to choose his vice presidents himself

Which brings us to the point of surprise: as great as the approval of Richard Lutz as DSB President was, the skepticism with which many responded to his central demand was at least as great. Lutz had made it a condition that he would choose his three vice presidents himself and would only take office if the Federal Congress supported his entire team. Many of his supporters probably didn’t want to go along with that either. In conversations with the SZ, they criticized both the allegedly undemocratic approach and some of the people in Team Lutz. He obviously can’t understand this and writes: “Anyone who recently complained about the fact that there is no cooperation in the executive committee and that this has a negative impact on the entire association’s work should not be surprised that I only want to compete with a loyal and collegial team that trusts and supports each other.”

And now? Could the bizarre situation arise in which Ingrid Lauterbach is initially voted out on Saturday – and yet is still unopposed in the subsequent election. In any case, so far there is no one who would like to take on Richard Lutz against Ingrid Lauterbach, who in turn is considered determined not to resign, despite all the criticism of her person. You can easily imagine the sarcastic undertone at the end of Richard Lutz’s letter: “I wish you personally and the DSB all the best, hope for a successful outcome of the Federal Congress and remain with best regards!”