The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has banned transgender women from competing in its events for those who were assigned female at birth. This move was said to be “temporary”, requiring “further analysis”, and that a longer term decision could take up to two years.
In an interview with BBC, FIDE stated that it wanted to analyze the impact of the policy, and did not want to rush this process. “The transgender legislation is rapidly developing in many countries and many sport bodies are adopting their own policies,” it said, adding that FIDE “will be monitoring these developments and see how we can apply them to the world of chess. Two years is a scope of sight that seemed reasonable for the thorough analyses of such developments.”
It added that transgender players could still compete in the open section of its tournaments.
Not content with its new anti-transgender policy, FIDE similarly stated that transgender men who had won women’s titles before transitioning would see their titles abolished.
Chess is classified as a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). But while various sports governing bodies already discriminate against transgender people (transgender women, in particular), chess actually does not involve comparable levels of physical activity.
