General Secretary: IGNATIUS LEONG
Titles: Commonwealth Chess Association President
Asean Chess Confederation President
Commonwealth Chess Association President
Singapore Chess Federation President
Biography Facts
- organized his first local open tournament at age 17;
- was elected Honorary General Secretary of Singapore Chess Federation at age 21
- organised hundreds of local and international tournaments including numerous in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
- played initiative role for the inclusion of Chess in the South East Asian Games in Vietnam 2003 and Philippines 2005
- established a tri-lateral funding assistance programme by Asian Chess Academy for Laos-Vietnam 2006-2009
- Sponsored several international events in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore
Career History
- FIDE General Secretary 2005 to present
- FIDE Calendar Administrator 2008 to present
- FIDE Vice-President 2002 to 2006
- Zonal President 1998 to 2002
- FIDE Central Committee member 1990 to 1994
- FIDE Qualification member 1988 to 1990
- Commonwealth Chess Association President 2008 to present
- Asean Chess Confederation President 2000 to present
- Singapore Chess Federation President 2007 to present
Technical Director at:
- Southeast Asian Games – Vietnam 2003 and Philippines 2005
- Asian Indoor Games – Macau 2007 and Vietnam 2009,
- World Mind Sport Games – China 2008
- Asian Games – Qatar 2006 and China 2010
- and World Youth Championships Vietnam 2008 – deemed the best organised in the entire series
Chief Arbiter at:
- Chess Olympiads – Calvia 2004 and Dresden 2008
- Women’s World Team Championship – Ekaterinburg 2007 and Ningbo 2009
- Women’s World Championship Match Xie Jun v Alisa Galliamova – Kazan & Shenyang 1999
- World Championship Candidates Match Gata Kamsky v Veselin Topalov – Sofia 2009
Besides technical matters, among his contributions to FIDE and world chess are these landmark proposals:
- 1993 – Proposal to allow extra participants into official events – the growth in the number of participants in especially youth events today
- 2002 – Proposal to have additional 3 Vice-Presidents elected and 2 Vice-Presidents nominated by the President – allowing individuals to contest FIDE Elections
- 2003 – Proposal to add one more player for the women’s teams in Chess Olympiads starting 2008 – record entries in Dresden 2008
- 2003 – Proposal to charge federations for transfer of players – new revenue for FIDE
- 2004 – Proposal to award titles for trainers and seminar fees – recognition of Trainers and new revenue for FIDE
- 2007 – Proposal to organise the Women’s World Team Championship once every two years – more events for women
- 2008 – Implementation of “Zero-Tolerance” in World Mind Sport Games Beijing
- 2008 and Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008
- 2009 – Proposal to add one more member on the Presidential Ticket and that the ticket must have at least one woman – elected woman on the Presidential Board
- 2009 – Proposal to maintain and regulate an Annual Calendar Planner with effect 2012
- 2009 – Proposal to charge federations which “import” players – compensates previous federations of transferred players
- Played at the Olympiads – Dubai 1986, Thessaloniki 1988 and Elista 1998
- Awarded the titles of International Arbiter (1979), International Organiser
- (1995) and FIDE Senior Trainer (2004).