Oh boy. This one took me a hot minute to wrap my brain around.
Last week, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) instituted a new rule banning transgender women from competing in women's chess events. Trans competitors will still be allowed in the open events. The rules also detailed if/how competitors will be able to keep their titles and rankings if they change their gender markers from male to female and vice versa.
This is the latest in a series of attacks on the trans community concerning whether or not trans women should be allowed to compete in women's sports. Most of the proposed rules banning trans women from women's sports cite a supposed "biological advantage" that trans women possess that make it unfair for them to compete against cisgender women. I will be breaking down all of that legislation for you at a later date, as well as detailing my proposed solution in more depth, but if you want to read what I've written to my state legislators so far about this issue, you can see some of my thoughts here.
Chess should be an inclusive space for all people, regardless of gender.
Biological Advantage?
The idea of physical biological advantage in sports is an intimidating one, and is something we will have to address as we figure out how to fairly include trans women in women's sports. However, today we are talking about chess.
Now, chess is a sport that is not exactly known for its physical difficulty. Instead, players use spatial reasoning skills and predictive calculations to best their opponent in a game that is physically equally possible for children and old people. Presence or absence of physical strength has no indication of skill at chess.
So then, why are we talking about biological advantage? This new policy is obviously written to hurt and discourage trans women, plain and simple. But, if you look a little more closely, this policy is clearly misogyny wearing a hat that looks like transphobia.
In professional chess, there are far more male grand masters than female ones, and male players consistently have much higher rankings than female players. Since many chess male chess players think that success in chess is linked purely to innate, raw brilliance, they have concluded, therefore, that men are biologically superior to women at chess.
No, I am not kidding.
As a woman with a degree in mathematics, the idea that men think they are biologically intellectually superior to women is not news to me. This attitude not only dominates the chess world, but also STEM departments and work environments everywhere. This idea also makes me feel a little bit sick.
Let's stay focused on chess.
There is a gender gap in chess, just like there is a gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In chess, the gender gap on the leaderboard is mostly explained by the gender gap in participation. In 2019, only 10.1% of FIDE ranked players were female. With fewer players, there are fewer chances for women to be on the leaderboard, and they are statistically less likely to be high ranking. In other words, much of the top level gap can be explained by the participation gap. This does not even account for the lack of encouragement of women in chess, the lack of push for girls to start chess at a young age, the society wide enforcement of gender roles that discourages young women from participating in intellectual pursuits like chess, and the misogynistic treatment of female players by male players. You can see a really great breakdown of these factors and more in this Slate article.
Rather than considering the societal factors that discourage women in chess, male chess players prefer to expound their own biological superiority over women in chess. This is because the idea of the biological advantages supports the hierarchy that is currently in place, rather than questions the societal factors that, if dealt with properly, could be removed to allow women more success in the chess world.
Why do we even have Women's Chess?
In the United States, women were explicitly banned from traditional chess clubs and tournaments in the 19th century, so many women started their own clubs. The first Women's Chess Championship was held in 1937, almost 80 years after the first men's championship. You can read more about the history of women's chess here.
Having women's chess leagues can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, having a league for women encourages more women to play. On the other, when top female players relegated to only play in women-only tournaments, it limits their ability to increase their ranking.
So how do trans women fit into this? The idea that trans women have a biological advantage over cis women in chess directly stems from the idea that men have a biological advantage over women in chess, which we have determined is misogynistic and wrong. Therefore, without biological advantage as a factor, it makes no sense to keep trans women out of women's chess.
However, we need to examine as a whole the need for women's chess at all. Chess is the same game, whether it is played by men, women, non-binary people, or trans people of all genders. Therefore, is it really necessary at the highest level to separate players on the basis of gender?
We need to remember why women's sports leagues exist. They were not bestowed generously upon us by our male overlords to allow women the breadcrumbs of competitive glory. They were painfully and carefully carved out by women to give ourselves more opportunities, after being rejected and cast out by men who were afraid to lose to us. Now that we are the ones with the power and opportunity, why are we using it to do the exact same thing to our trans sisters?
What can we do?
This issue of trans women in chess seems in itself very niche, but also very overarching and general due to the overall themes of misogyny and transphobia. Here are a couple of things we can do to try and help this situation.
Email the FIDE and ask them to change their policies on trans women in chess. I have included the email address and my email below.
Take a stab at learning chess. If you know how to play, you can encourage and teach women and girls in your life to play with you, and that might spark an interest in chess. The more women that are interested in chess, the more we can close the participation gap, and the more women we will see on the leaderboard.
When you tell the young girls in your life that they can be anything, actually mean it, and work to help them achieve their goals. No matter what career path you are on or what hobbies you love, there is a girl out there who is interested in what you are doing. Find ways to mentor them and encourage them to reach for their dreams.
Finally, adjust your thinking so that when you read statements 2 and 3, they automatically include trans women and trans girls. Trans women are women, trans girls are girls, and the world will be a much better place when we acknowledge that.
Even though we are out here facing tough issues for trans women and cis women today, do not forget to also take time for yourself, and to find some joy in the world. Personally, I am off to pet my dog.
Sample Email
Email address: office@fide.com
Dear FIDE,
I am disappointed to hear about your new policy banning trans women from competing in women's chess events. This policy feels very rooted in both transphobia and misogyny. Not only does it exclude trans women, but it puts down cis women by implying that those who are born male are biologically superior at chess, which has no basis in fact. It is easy to extrapolate from this new rule that you think men are intellectually superior to women, and that you also want to actively discourage trans people from competing in chess altogether.
As a woman, a mathematician, and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I am very insulted by this change in your rules. Chess should be a place where people of all genders can come together and improve their skills, not a place where gender stereotypes are enforced and exclusion made policy. Therefore, I think you should allow players to compete in whichever league best fits their preference.
Thank you so much, and I look forward to your response.
Veronica Druchniak
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