TRANSGENDER REGISTRATION REGULATIONS

Approved by FIDE Council on 01/08/2023

Applied from 21/08/2023

1.      Definition

Trans or transgender – people whose sense of gender does not match with the gender assigned 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 not included under these terms.

2.      Personal Details and FIDE ID

2.1     A player registered to FIDE acquires a FIDE ID number (FIN). As a rule, change of gender is not a 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. The decision on whether to permit a new FIN is taken by the Qualification Commission (QC). In the event of permitting a new FIN, the old one is kept for the historical record, and does not allow the player to remove their chess history. The decision of QC can be appealed to the FIDE Council.

2.2     Database changes 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 the issue itself and takes the decision based on the gender change evidence of the player's official country of residence/citizenship.

2.3     Change of gender is a change that has a significant impact on a player’s status and future eligibility to tournaments, therefore it can only be made if there is proof of the change provided. Before changing the gender in the FIDE system, the National Rating Officer should request from the player sufficient proof of a gender change that complies with their national laws and regulations. Examples of suitable evidence includes, but is not limited to, the following:

2.3.1      Birth certificate

2.3.2      Passport

2.3.3      National or international ID

2.3.4      A refugee certificate

2.3.5      Final court decision

2.3.6      Other relevant documents that prove the transfer/change of the gender according to the national legislation, or evidence of the existence of the requirements of a gender change requested and to be approved in accordance 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, the player must confirm in writing that the player is familiar with the restrictions established by these regulations and undertakes to comply with them.

2.4     If the National Rating Officer rejects the gender change application, the player may appeal to QC. QC can also overrule the decision of the National Rating Officer to change the gender of the player if there is insufficient evidence of such change. The decision of QC can be appealed to FIDE Council. Prohibition of the players to participate in the respective country’s chess competitions in case the player’s request was rejected by a Member Federation and then accepted by FIDE, is to be considered and sanctioned as discriminatory behaviour.

2.5     The National Rating 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 the player has applied for a national ID gender change, the National Rating Officer shall encourage the player to apply for the change of gender attached to the FIN. In case of 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 subsequent gender change, the process and eligibility remain the same as it was for the first gender change.

3.      Temporary Restrictions After a Change of Gender

3.1     These regulations apply to all individual competitions under the aegis of the Global Strategy Commission, Events Commission, and events providing qualification spots to the World Cup.

3.2     The following restrictions shall be applied to a player after the change of the gender in FIDE ID:

If the gender was changed from male to female, the player has no right to participate in official FIDE events for women until a further decision is made by FIDE. Such decision should be based on further analysis and shall be taken by FIDE Council not later than December 31, 2026. There are no restrictions to play in the open section for a person who has changed the gender.

4.      Transfer of Rights and Liabilities

4.1     Titles

If a player holds any of the women’s titles, but the gender has been changed to a man, the women titles will be removed. Those can be renewed if the person subsequently changes the gender back to a woman and can prove the ownership of the respective FIDE ID that holds the title. The removed women’s 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 gender from a man into a woman, all the previous titles remain. The player may use only the published rating at the time the registration was changed, and all subsequent ratings when applying for women’s titles. No peak ratings or results that have been reached before the official gender change may be used to qualify for women’s titles after the legal gender change.

4.2     Rating

Regardless of the gender change, the previous rating remains attributed to the player without change.

4.3     Liabilities

Changing gender, regardless of weather the previous FIN is retained or a new one obtained, the player is not exempt from the sanctions and restrictions previously applied to this player.

5.      Non-Disclosure/Privacy Matters

5.1     FIDE will not publicly discuss any player’s gender change. However, FIDE has the right to inform organisers and other relevant parties of the gender change (and the relevant name and/or FIN change) in order to be able to track the record of the player as far as it is necessary for the efficient operation of FIDE (e.g. applying for titles, recognising the temporary restrictions).

5.2     FIDE has the right to make an appropriate mark in the player database and/or use other measures to inform organisers that a player is transgender, to prevent them from possible illegitimate enrolment in tournaments.

Download Application for the change of information regarding the gender.