GENEVA — A high world chess official on Friday known as for extra analysis into whether or not elements corresponding to hormone ranges and bodily endurance would possibly have an effect on gamers’ skills on the recreation, which has historically been and stays dominated by males.
The world chess federation FIDE stirred controversy with its resolution, introduced this week and set to take impact Monday, to ban transgender girls from its official occasions for girls till the federation makes an evaluation of the difficulty.
Dana Reizniece-Ozola, the deputy chair of the federation’s administration board, insisted that the aim of the brand new laws was “truly to extend the rights of the transgender individuals and permit them being registered below their new gender” in its official listing.
Tournaments just for girls have been created within the Nineteen Seventies as a approach to foster their participation in a sport that has lengthy been dominated by males. Even now solely 2% of all gamers — and 10% of rated gamers — are girls, she mentioned.
The brand new laws, which might topic transgender girls to a ready interval of as much as two years as the difficulty is examined, was geared toward giving FIDE a “grace interval” to type out the matter of transgender gamers and males’s dominance within the sport.
“What continues to be not clear is that if the hormonal ranges do affect the competitiveness in chess,” she mentioned by video from Latvia’s capital, Riga. “There isn’t any critical analysis or scientific evaluation that may show one or the opposite means. There are speculations, however not more than that.”
Many sports activities involving intense bodily exercise — which chess doesn’t — have been grappling with the best way to formulate insurance policies towards transgender athletes in recent times.
Cathy Renna, communications director for the U.S. Nationwide LGBTQ Process Drive, mentioned the brand new guidelines gave the impression to be “a case of ‘trans panic’ with no justification, not grounded in actuality and as soon as once more marginalizing trans folks.”
Reizniece-Ozola mentioned FIDE, like different sports activities organizations, must stability equality — offering rights to each particular person to compete on an equal foundation — and truthful competitors. “That is the side that basically wants an increasing number of analysis, scientifically based mostly analysis,” she mentioned.
“Though it’s not the bodily sports activities, you want some endurance engaged on the chess recreation for 4 or typically 4 or 5 and extra hours in an extended time period,” Reizniece-Ozola mentioned.
Tradition, she mentioned, was “most likely” the principle purpose that girls have been much less lively in chess “as a result of chess has not been considered a sport that’s acceptable for girls in so many cultures. In order that … has created this big gender hole.”
The inspiration of chess, which she known as an “mental sport,” is equal: “I imply, there isn’t any distinction between women and men on the mental half. However nonetheless, we see that the statistical knowledge present the variations between women and men.”
Phrase of the choice got here because the federation is internet hosting a World Cup occasion in Azerbaijan the place high gamers, together with No. 1-ranked Grand Grasp Magnus Carlsen of Norway, are attending.
The federation has open competitions that permit all gamers to participate, in addition to specialised classes, corresponding to for younger gamers and even computer systems.