FIDE Regulations on Transgender Chess Players’ Registration on
FIDE Directory
Background
FIDE and its member federations more often receive recognition requests from individualmembers who identify themselves as transgender. FIDE in their Directory will recognize
an individual’s gender identity that is consistent with the identity they maintain in theirnon chess life AND that has been confirmed by national authorities based on a due legal
and formal process of change. FIDE recognizes that this is an evolving issue for chessand that besides technical regulations on transgender regulations further policy mayneed to be evolved in the future in line with research evidence.
REGULATIONS

I. Definition
Trans or transgender – people whose sense of gender does not match with the genderassigned to them at birth and whose change of gender has been approved according to
the national legal rules or upon FIDE decision in exceptional cases. Intersex people,androgyne and polygender people, cross-dressing and transvestite people are notincluded under these terms.
II. Personal details and FIDE ID
2.1. A player registered to FIDE acquires a FIDE ID number (FIN). As a rule, change of thegender is not the reason for a person to get a new FIN, unless there is a special, strictly
exceptional reason for the person not to reveal publicly their previous identity. Suchdecision on applying a new FIN is taken by FIDE QC. In the event of granting a new FIN,
the old one is kept for the record not allowing the player to remove their chess history.
The decision of FIDE QC can be appealed to the FIDE Council.
2.2. Changes of the database can be provided by the player’s National Rating’s Officer.
If the player approaches FIDE directly, the request will be forwarded to the National
Federation for processing. If the player plays under the FIDE flag, FIDE processes theissue itself and takes the decision based on the gender change evidence of the player's
official country of residence/citizenship.

12.3. Change of gender is a change that has a significant impact on a player’s status andfuture eligibility to tournaments, therefore it can only be made if there is a relevant
proof of the change provided. Upon change of the gender in FIDE system, the National
Rating Officer should require from the player sufficient proof of a gender change thatcomplies with their national laws and regulations. It could be any (but not limited to) of
the following: Birth certificate, Passport, national or international ID, a refugeecertificate, final court decision and other relevant documents that prove thetransfer/change of the gender according to the national legislation or evidence of theexistence of the requirements of a gender change requested and to be approved inaccordance with a given national legal system but not or not yet approved in some
exceptional reasons (e.g. refugees, stateless, etc.). These documents must be provided
to FIDE with the application from player’s National Rating Officer. Additionally, theplayer must confirm in writing that the player is familiar with the restrictions establishedby these regulations and undertakes to comply with them.
2.4. If the National Rating Officer rejects to approve the gender change, the player may
appeal to FIDE QC. FIDE QC can also cancel the decision of the National Rating Officer tochange the gender of the player if there is no sufficient evidence of such change. Thedecision of FIDE QC can be appealed to the FIDE Council. Prohibition of the players toparticipate in the respective country’s chess events in case the player’s request wasrejected by a Member Federation and then accepted by FIDE is to be considered andsanctioned as a discriminatory behavior.
2.5. The National Ratings Officer is responsible for entering justified gender change in
FIN to ensure the player's gender at the national level matches the FIN gender. If theplayer has applied for the national ID gender change, the National Rating Officer shallencourage the player to apply for the change of the gender attached to the FIN. In caseof the discrepancy between the national ID gender and FIN gender, FIDE follows its entry
to define the eligibility of the player in FIDE events.
2.6. If the person applies for a repeated gender change, the process and eligibility
remains the same as for the first time gender change.

III. Temporary restrictions after change of the gender
These regulations apply to all competitions under the aegis of the Global Strategy
Commission, Events Commission, and events providing qualification spots to the World
Cup and World Team Championships.

2The following restrictions shall be applied to a player after the change of the gender inFIDE ID:
In the event that the gender was changed from a male to a female the player has noright to participate in official FIDE events for women until further FIDE’s decision ismade. Such decision should be based on further analysis and shall be taken by the FIDE
Council at the earliest possible time, but not longer than within 2 (two) years period.
There are no restrictions to play in the open section for a person who has changed thegender.
IV. Transfer of rights and liabilities
4.1. Titles. If a player holds any of the women titles, but the gender has been changed
to a man, the women titles are to be abolished. Those can be renewed if the personchanges the gender back to a woman and can prove the ownership of the respective
FIDE ID that holds the title. The abolished women title may be transferred into a general
title of the same or lower level (e.g., WGM may be transferred into FM, WIM into CM,etc.).
If a player has changed the gender from a man into a woman, all the previous titles
remain eligible. The player may use only the published rating at the time the registration
was changed, and all subsequent ratings when applying for women titles. No peakratings or results that have been reached before the official gender change may be used
to qualify for women titles after the legal gender change.
4.2. Rating. Regardless of the gender change, the previous rating remains attributed tothe player without change.
4.3. Liabilities. Changing gender, regardless if the previous FIN is retained or a new one
obtained, the player is not exempt from the penalty of punishments and restrictions
previously applied to this player.
V. Non-disclosure/Privacy matters
FIDE does not publicly discuss the player’s gender change. However, FIDE has the rightto inform the organizers and other relevant parties on the gender change (and therelevant name and/or FIN change) in order to be able to track the record of the player
as far as it is necessary for efficient operations of FIDE (e.g. applying titles, recognizing
the set temporary restrictions etc.).

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Also FIDE has the right to make an appropriate mark in the Players’ database and/or use
other measures to inform organizers on a player being a transgender, so that to prevent
them from possible illegitimate enrollments in tournaments.

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