A trans teenage girl wins a chess title and now people want her banned

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/relationships/a-trans-teenage-girl-wins-a-chess-title-and-now-people-want-her-banned/ar-AA1Ic4ro?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ae743aa4c0404f46fd0371076c2dca3f&ei=10

Story by Jim Buzinski (8 July 2025)

2025 update: Nora Heidemann is a trans teenager in Germany who loves chess and is ranked No. 59,921 in the world, which hardly makes her elite. Yet her win last month in an under-18 national tournament has sparked calls for a ban. This shows this issue is not going away and my column below from 2023 is as relevant today as it was then, since the arguments against Heidemann playing are the same as used previously.

Under the new guidelines from the International Chess Federation — known by its French acronym, FIDE — individuals who transition from male to female have "no right" to compete in official events for women until "further analysis" is made, which could take up to two years. Additionally, if a player holds titles in women's categories and transitions to male, "the women titles are to be abolished," while if the player transitions from male to female, the titles will remain, the handbook says.

Last I looked, chess pieces didn't weigh 100 pounds and thus require strength or require someone to run fast or jump high. These have all been reasons why various federations such as swimming, cycling and track and field have changed their rules. While I think these other sports bodies have policies that are too restrictive, they have at least a veneer of science behind them. But chess? It's pure transphobia.

It's not just transphobia, it's also rolled up in misogyny;

"Women are intellectually inferior to men, therefore not as good as men at chess, and should only compete against each other."

Dumb

TL;DR
Women are not mentally inferior to men at chess or any other brain based field.  In chess the rating gap is driven by smaller female participation plus hostile club culture and restrictive rules so when opportunity support and safety match women perform just as well.

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Introduction
Walk into any large chess event and most boards are occupied by men.  About 15% of all FIDE rated players are women and only forty two of more than seventeen hundred grandmasters are female [1][2].  These figures prompt claims that men hold an innate edge yet the evidence points elsewhere.

Participation effect
FIDE's database lists roughly 350,000 rated players worldwide [9].  Female players make up between 35,000 and 55,000 of that total so men outnumber women by more than six to one [9][3].  A statistical study by Bilalić Smallbone McLeod and Gobet showed that when one group is many times larger the highest ratings almost always come from that larger pool so raw participation explains most of the gap [3].

Current elite gap
In July 2025 Magnus Carlsen tops the classical list at 2,839 while Hou Yifan leads the women at about 2,630 which places her within the overall top hundred [4][5].  FIDE records 1,722 grandmasters of whom 37 are women leaving 1,685 men [9].  To illustrate how thin female representation becomes further down the list Nora Heidemann a German trans teenager who won her national under 18 girls' event in 2025 is ranked 59,921st in the world [10].

Barriers and psychology
FIDE's Gender Equality in Chess Index notes that many clubs lack female coaches or safe welcoming spaces which pushes teenage girls out of organised play [6].  Studies show women who know their opponent is male underperform slightly yet the gap vanishes when gender is hidden online a classic stereotype threat pattern [7].

Institutional rules can also block participation.  In 2023 FIDE announced that players who move from male to female registration have "no right" to enter women's events for up to two years while the federation studies the issue [11].  The same policy sparked renewed debate in 2025 when Heidemann's youth title led some critics to call for a ban despite her modest rating [10].

Signs the gap can close
Where more girls play the gap shrinks.  At the 2022 Chennai Olympiad 937 players competed in the open section and 800 in the women's section showing near parity when federations field equal teams [8].  Mongolia reports almost forty per cent female participation and has a much smaller rating difference between sexes [6].  Judit Polgár climbed to world number eight and Hou Yifan keeps beating elite male grandmasters proving that individual women can match the very best when given equal support [5].
 
No peer-reviewed study has found a biological trait that restricts women's chess capacity so access coaching cultural support and raw numbers remain the main drivers of today's imbalance.

Conclusion
Current ratings measure opportunity as much as talent.  The male majority at elite level reflects who enters who stays and who receives sustained coaching.  Expanding training for girls ensuring safe inclusive clubs and highlighting visible female role models are practical steps that can close the gap.  When participation balances out there is every reason to expect many more women perhaps one day a woman world champion at the very summit of chess.

Bibliography
[1] FIDE Rating Database.  "Distribution of Registered Players by Gender." https://ratings.fide.com
[2] Wikipedia.  "List of Female Chess Grandmasters." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_chess_players
[3] Bilalić A Smallbone K McLeod P Gobet F.  "Why Are (The Best) Women So Good at Chess? Participation Rates and Gender Differences in Intellectual Domains." Brunel University 2009.  https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/3494
[4] Chess.com News.  "July 2025 FIDE Classical Ratings." https://www.chess.com/news/view/july-2025-fide-ratings
[5] Chess.com.  "Hou Yifan | Top Chess Players." https://www.chess.com/players/hou-yifan
[6] FIDE.  "Gender Equality in Chess Index Report 2023." https://handbook.fide.com/files/GEI-2023.pdf
[7] King's College London News.  "Study Examines Impact of Stereotyping on Performance in Chess." 2022.  https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/stereotype-chess-performance
[8] Wikipedia.  "44th Chess Olympiad." Participant statistics.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/44th_Chess_Olympiad
[9] FIDE News.  "World Statistics Day – Chess Touch." 20 Oct 2020.  https://www.fide.com/world-statistics-day-chess-touch/
[10] Outsports via MSN.  D.  Buzinski.  "A trans teenage girl wins a chess title and now people want her banned." 8 July 2025.  https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/relationships/a-trans-teenage-girl-wins-a-chess-title-and-now-people-want-her-banned/ar-AA1Ic4ro
[11] FIDE Handbook.  "Regulations on Participation of Transgender Players." adopted 2023.  https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/transgender_regulations