“She has a fantastic talent for chess but she is a woman.” Gari Kasparov believed that his superiority over Judit Polgar, the best player ever, was based on his status as a man. “No woman can sustain a prolonged battle,” the Baku-born champion said on another occasion, alluding to his physical superiority. However, the day came when the prodigious Hungarian surpassed the world champion, she would also do it later with Magnus Carlsen, current number 1. A historic day in which a woman showed that she can be better than the best man in front of a board, as happens in the acclaimed television series The Queen's Gambit. Now, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has decided to ban transgender players from women's tournaments, considering that they will gain an advantage, at least until each specific case is reviewed, something that could take at least two years. These bans already exist in many other sports such as athletics, swimming or cycling, and in fact they are much more severe, but the debate has spread. Are there really differences between women and men in chess? And, if so, why are there tournaments only for women?
The case of the Polgar sisters is something rather isolated within the history of sports science. The three sisters, educated by their parents at home with chess very present, became very important. Judit was the first in history to be top ten and to beat all the world champions she played against. But it was Susan, the eldest, who managed to qualify for the qualifying phase of the absolute World Cup in 1986, which forced the word male to be erased from the regulations, to be called open. From then on, any woman can choose whether she chooses to play in one category or another, without restrictions.
The creation of women's tournaments does not mean that they are less qualified to play, "these tournaments help receive extra attention, gather financial support and help make the game more attractive for young women," said Alexey Root, United States champion. United in 1989, during the world past. It must also be taken into account that in most federations in the world the number of women is approximately 15% of the total, and in those countries where women's competitions were suppressed, the participation of players in mixed events was reduced even more, while results improved where specific programs aimed at young female players were developed. Currently the first woman in the FIDE ranking, the Chinese Hou Yifan, is ranked 127.
With the new regulations, FIDE says it wants to protect women chess players, although this has not been reflected in the letter recently signed by one hundred women who denounce sexist and sexual violence in chess. The organization explains that the presence of transgender athletes in women's competitions will depend on "an individual analysis of each case and the decision will be made by the FIDE Council as soon as possible, but not beyond a period of two years." He also adds that he has no problems recognizing gender identities and recognizes that it is “a question of evolution for chess.”
Since FIDE's announcement, many federations have positioned themselves against it. The German has already said that she does not intend to discriminate against transgender women and the French woman has a similar criterion. In fact, one of the best-known trans players is the Frenchwoman Yosha Iglesias, who believes that this regulation will force trans players into a dilemma: “Transition or abandon chess.” “This terrible situation will lead to depression and suicide attempts. Believe me. I was there and I know it,” she says on her social networks. The Catalan federation has also positioned itself against FIDE.
In Spain there is the case of Natalia Parés, who left the boards in 1998 when she was known as Josep and returned a decade later. Nowadays, she barely participates in competitions.
