Garry Kasparov, the former chess world champion, announced in October that he was running for president of the World Chess Federation, the game’s governing body. He also announced a slate of candidates who were his nominees to lead the organization in various geographic regions.

The nominees included Ignatius Leong in Asia, a surprising choice considering Leong, who lives in Singapore, is the general secretary of the federation under its longtime president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is running for re-election. In effect, Leong was switching sides.

The motivation might have been money.

Two months earlier, Kasparov and Leong negotiated a deal in which Leong would help Kasparov’s presidential run in exchange for $500,000, according to a draft contract reviewed by The New York Times. Kasparov also agreed, after his election, to open a new federation office in Singapore, to be run by Leong, for which he would be paid an undisclosed amount.

The contract was drafted by Morten Sand, a Norwegian lawyer working for Kasparov on his campaign. He confirmed its authenticity in an email to The Times and said the draft was superseded by another contract in which “the parties had agreed that all financial support was given with the explicit purpose of chess development and programs. No money was going to individuals.” Sand emphasized this point again on Tuesday in a letter posted on Kasparov’s election website after The Times inquired about the draft contract.