The International Chess Federation, known as FIDE has stopped allowing transgender women from participating in women’s competitions until “further analysis” can be made.
The organization will also remove some titles won by players who won in women’s categories and later transitioned to male. It would also remove titles from men who later transitioned to female.
Speaking on the new policies, the federation wrote in a statement:
“FIDE recognizes that this is an evolving issue for chess and that besides technical regulations on transgender regulations, further policy may need to be evolved in the future in line with research evidence.”
Under the new policies, transgender people will still be allowed to vie in the “open” section of tournaments, where men and women generally vie against one another.
But top events exclusively for women would only take biological women as contenders until “further analysis” is made by the FIDE.
The titles could be restored if a player detransitions and can “prove the ownership of the respective FIDE ID that holds the title,” the federation said.
The National Center for Transgender Equality said the new policies were “insulting” to all women and the competition itself.
