Ignatius Leong

Ignatius Leong (born 1956) is a professional chess organizer in Singapore and has been one of Asia's leading organizers for more than 20 years. He is FIDE Secretary-General and President of the ASEAN Chess Confederation, a 14-country zone, geographically the largest in the world. He is also Chairman of the FIDE Development Commission.

He was Asia’s first International Organiser and among the first to receive the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. At 23, he became one of the world’s youngest International Arbiters. Leong is also Director of the ASEAN Chess Academy, which has produced many promising local talents and now attracts talent from around the region. He had played in three Chess Olympiads.

Politically, he has swung wildly from one extreme to the other. He once formed a "World Chess Organization", which promised to overthrow FIDE. However, he abandoned that effort when not enough people joined. He has also swung wildly between being a supporter and an opponent of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

In 2002, Leong announced that he was running for FIDE President against Ilyumzhinov. Later, he changed his mind, saying that he was not running. Then, changing it again, saying that he had never withdrawn his candidacy. It was eventually ruled that once he had withdrawn, it was too late to become a candidate again, so no election was held because Ilyumzhinov was the only candidate. However, Leong became FIDE Secretary-General.

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