Mick Hartley

A typically annoying BBC article on trans chess players.

FIDE, the chess association, have quite reasonably decided that women's chess should be restricted to women, and should not include men who wear dresses, wigs, and lipstick. Like most sports and games, chess has historically been dominated by men, and only recently have we seen the rise of top women players.

The question of whether men have a built-in biological adavtange is still moot. It's not obvious, as in physical sports, but there are factors – such as spatial awareness differences – that have been cited as possibly favouring men. Whatever, it's not really the point. If women want their own women-only tournaments, they should surely have their own women-only tournaments – especially in the context of such a male-dominated activity. There are already mixed tournaments and men-only tournaments. 

For the BBC, though, the presumption is that this is a nasty regressive move, cruelly excluding poor transwomen:

The rules have been heavily criticised by notable female chess players including Jennifer Shahade – Fide grandmaster and two-time US women's champion.

"The rules have had a really upsetting effect on the chess community," Shahade told BBC Sport. "They seem very cruel.

"The practical ramifications, I'm not sure of yet, but they will have an effect on the LGBT community – people saying even if they are unlikely to qualify for events, it makes them want to play chess less."

In reality this has absolutely no effect on the Ls, Gs, or Bs. The only people affected are the Ts. As always with the trans crowd they align themselves with gays, thus trying to co-opt sympathy naturally felt for the historically oppressed homosexual community.

And this:

"The reason these policies come out is that people really believe players will pretend to be women to win events and take prize money."

It's possible they may. It's happened in practically every physical sport – athletics, swimming, cycling. It's perhaps not likely in chess because the male-female difference in performance is unclear – if indeed there is one. But such a claim – that it's all about possible cheats – also has the implication that there are genuine transwomen who can be distinguished from pretend transwomen. Which, for actual women, is a false distinction. You don't get to be a women by the sincerity with which you hold the belief that you're a woman.

Naturally a trans player, one Yosha Iglesias, is quoted with sympathy. We also learn that the main supporters of the FIDE move are those horrible backward Russians:

Putin's governments have introduced a series of anti-LGBTQ+ laws while he has been in office, including the "gay propaganda" law in 2013 during Dvorkovich's time in government. That banned promotion of homosexuality among people under 18. Russia also introduced a ban on gender-affirming surgeries for trans people in July this year.

According to Iglesias, the Russian influence on chess is felt heavily through these new laws.

"I am certain there is no coincidence the Fide regulations have been published just after Russia put in place one of the most horrifying anti-trans laws," she said.

"It's also meaningful they did not consult any trans players. They knew what they wanted."

Poor Yosha Iglesias soldiers on, bravely fighting back the tears:

Iglesias says she was moved to tears and "so grateful" for the French Chess Federation's support.

As a result, she is doing her best to remain hopeful about the future, while aware her time in elite chess could be shortened.

"There is so much uncertainty, it is hard to make a prediction," she said. "In France, there was a rejected law proposal that sport categories should be based on assigned sex at birth. If that happened, I could no longer play as a woman in France.

"You see similar things happening everywhere – in the UK and USA too.

"I'm glad I can be like a mother to young trans players. When I was young, I had no-one to look up to, but it's better now than not so long ago."

Why can't he play as a man, then – this Iglesias? That's what he is. Why should women be denied their own tournaments for the sake of his precious feelings?