The world chess federation has ruled that transgender women cannot compete in official women’s events until officials review their gender reassignment.
“Gender reassignment is a change that has a significant impact on a player’s status and future eligibility for tournaments, so it can only be done when there is adequate proof of the change provided,” – said FIDE, which will only allow transgender women to play in women’s tournaments after the change has been made through official channels and upon presentation of proof of official gender change.
In the event that the gender has been changed from male to female, the player is not allowed to participate in official FIDE events for women until a further FIDE decision is made. Female titleholders who change their gender to male will have their previous titles stripped. At the same time, the Federation maintains the possibility of restoring trophies if the person changes their gender back.
The federation confessed that questions about transgender players were increasingly present in the chess world, so it was necessary to react. The steps taken may change as research on the impact of transgenderism in sport develops. The federation explained that the decisions taken are aimed solely at clarifying the procedure for how a person who has officially changed his/her gender can register this fact in the FIDE catalogue.
Any transgender player will be able to participate in the “open” section of chess tournaments.
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