Really sad to see as someone just getting into chess :(
Well hell, just another sport that trans-people just fucking dominate with our amazing…
checks notes
no wait…
checks notes again
no no no…
frantically throwing notes around all over
fuck i guess there isnt a reason for this
sorry we are too smart and sexy to play
Trans men are reportedly set to be stripped of any titles if they were won pre-transition, unless, according to the regulator: “The person changes the gender back to a woman and can prove the ownership of the respective FIDE ID that holds the title.”
potential justification of ban follows
spoiler
this is probably the worst part, like i guess there can be some argument made about fairness for trans women (eg. the usual reason men are better at chess is that they are taught from younger ages, so a woman transitioning later in life could have an advantage that isn’t erased by transition). but removing trans mens titles shows its purely coming from a place of transphobia rather than actually caring about womens sport >:(
its all bullshit though because there is fuck all trans players and afaik they aren’t winning tournaments. and also the ‘advantage’ that trans women have is likely cancelled out by being trans, and theres nothing stopping people from coaching cis women from a young age.
We have zero competitive advantage, why are they doing this?
spoiler
transphobia :(
I think we need a concerted effort to bring competitive chess to a truly genderless paradigm. I understand why there are currently women-only events, but it’s not hard to imagine a future where all humans play chess on equal footing all the time. The human brain is the star here, and the flesh and bones wrapped around that brain are inconsequential.
I have no idea of what’s going on here. Why are there separate gendered categories for chess to begin with, is there a reason they need to be separated? Does it have a ‘playing chess’ reason or a ‘some countries don’t see women as humans’ reason?
As I understand it, the primary reason that there are women-only events is because some people worry that having only open events would discourage women from participating at all. The reasons why women might not want to participate in open events seems to be related to women and girls historically not being encouraged as much as men, and therefore being weaker performers (as a group) than men. Additionally, there have been issues with sexual harassment (see the recent lichess article “Breaking the Silence”). It’s understandable that some women would not be comfortable competing in that type of environment.
The main goal is to attract more women to chess as a sport. Women historically have had fewer chances to participate in pretty much anything compared to men, so it’s no surprise that women are underrepresented in chess and that chess is viewed as a men’s sport.
If this is supposed to change at any point, it needs to be visible that chess is a viable and inviting sport for women. It needs to have female idols and role models competing on the highest level. If Ju Wenjun was not Women world champion and there was no women’s section in top events, I doubt the majority of the chess community would know who she was. She would just disappeared into the sea of 2500-2600 GMs struggling to make a living in chess. In terms of viability, there is of course the topic of chess as a career. It is hard to make a living in chess, only top player will have a somewhat stable income playing chess. Most players make money doing something adjacent, eg. coaching, writing or streaming. Having a dedicated women’s category also means dedicated price money.
Link to the document (which is also linked in the article).
The article has a couple of inaccuracies and unjustified assumptions:
First of all, there is no Men’s category in chess, only Open and Women’s. The Open category is, as indicated by its name, open to everyone, men, women, cis, trans and anyone else, and it is not unusual that women compete in it (the most prominent case was Judit Polgar). This new FIDE document doesn’t change that, so a trans person is allowed in competitive play, contrary to what the title suggests. The Women’s category is restricted to only women, and this document explains how these restrictions are applied to trans people. Note that the existence of a Women’s category is controversial on its own.
Similarly, there are not Men titles and Women titles, only General titles (Grand Master, International Master,…) and Women titles (Women Grand Master, Women International Master,…), with the Women titles having lower requirements (again, very controversial). All the top women players are GMs, not WGMs. The FIDE document states that trans men will have their women titles abolished (unless they transition back), but they retain their general titles, and in case they don’t have one, their women title will be transferred to the general title of the equivalent level. The article incorrectly states that trans men “are set to be stripped of any titles if they were won pre-transition”.
Now, to the meat of the topic: the eligibility of trans women for the Women category:
Article 2.3 states that any person who has legally transitioned can certificate so to their National Rating Officer to change their gender in FIDE’s database. Once that that change in the database is done, trans women are restricted from Women events until a decision is made by FIDE Council “at the earliest possible time”. In these cases where the transition is backed up by legal documents, the decision by FIDE should be a formality and take little time.
Of course, this is only possible for countries who recognize gender changes. In case the National Rating Officer rejects the change, article 2.4 allows an appellation to the FIDE QC, and after that to the FIDE Council. In these cases the decision by the FIDE Council may take up more time, and FIDE sets a deadline of two years for that decision (but it doesn’t mean that every case will take two years).
And finally, just to be clear, all of this only applies to trans players who need to change their gender in FIDE’s database. Trans players that always have played under their post-transition gender, or that have changed their gender before this regulation, don’t need to go through this process. This is the case, for example, of Yosha Iglesias, the player mentioned in the article, and that is listed as female in FIDE’s database, and consequently she can play in any Women’s event she wants.
All in all, I think there is much unnecessary red tape, especially for the trans people more at risk, those who live in countries where they are persecuted. And that the excessive red tape is most likely based on transphobia. But the situation is not as extreme as many other sports that have directly banned the participation of trans players.
Thank you for this!
This is beyond fucked. I can understand a woman’s only section and a section with mixed genders, but why this?
