Nigel confirms to
Chess.com that he's running. He wants to get back to an Euwe/Olafsson type of Presidency where its not all about the money. Of course he will need the support of his own Federation but this may not necessarily be straightforward:
"One issue is that Short will be seeking the endorsement of the English Chess Federation, which now has IM Malcolm Pein as its delegate. Pein and Short get along fine, but recent developments suggest a potential clash.
Pein, who is also the organizer of the London Chess Classic, has been quite close with Makropoulos in the last few months and helped FIDE to get the Saudi Chess Federation to host the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in December 2017.
According to Short, it is "strongly rumored" that Pein will be the Deputy President on the ticket of Makropoulos:
"I’ve known Malcolm since 1973. He is a friend of mine. He has done a lot of good things for chess. But I think he views getting in bed with Makro as his route to the FIDE presidency. My view is that Makro has been, if not the main problem, certainly absolutely instrumental in the rottenness with FIDE. He's been the enabler, the facilitator for Kirsan.""