I don’t understand why being trans would matter in chess. It’s not like additional muscle mass gives you an advantage.

testosterone soaked children's brains tend to do better on spacial reasoning tests, not that that should preclude anyone from having a job or following any path they desire.

The issue is men trying to compete in women's competitions.

There may be an argument for not having separate tournaments for women at all, but while there is such a division, it's essential to filter out men for this purpose - including those who pretend to be women.

Thank you for explaining it to me. I feel very differently about it (I don’t think there is any pretending involved), but now I at least understand the other side of the argument.

The one event where this sh*t doesn't matter. Way to go :facepalm:

I can see why some people who don't play chess think this is terrible, but there are plenty of events that are called open, we're both men and women are free to play against each other. However, there are specific men, and women, chess events, and in my opinion, they should stay that way. Men and women can always play each other in the open section, but biological women should be protected for their own sports and spaces.

The real question is, which protects the biological women more: forcing them to play with trans women, or forcing them to play with trans men? Because the latter is what happens if you institute a policy of “only biological sex counts”