08-24-2023
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) announced that it would stop transgender women from participating in women's competitions until it completes further analysis over the next couple of years. FIDE says that a "change of gender is a change that has a significant impact on a player's status. "Moreover, the organization will remove some titles earned by female players who later transitioned to male and titles won by transgender men.
The U.S. and German chess federations have protested the changes, with the German Federation stating, "If a person is legally recognized as a woman, it is incomprehensible to us what FIDE still wants to check and why it needs two years for this."
Transgender individuals will still be allowed to compete in "open" parts of the tournament where men compete against women. It reserves the right to make an "appropriate mark" indicating gender change and notify tournament officials whether someone is transgender. It is unclear how a person's gender impacts their ability to play chess. The National Center for Transgender Equality said these guidelines assume that women cannot be competitive against men in chess because they are not as capable.