Yosha Iglesias Becomes First Ever Transgender Woman International Master In Chess

Yosha's achievement is a first for transgender women in chess. This comes after FIDE, the international organization for chess competition, announced restrictions on transgender players.

On Dec. 30, Yosha Iglesias announced that she had completed a momentous achievement for transgender people at the age of 36: she became a Woman International Master in Chess, a title that is expected to be certified in coming months. She is the first transgender woman to earn the title. This prestigious title is held by only 17 other women chess players in France, according to the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) ratings database, and is the second-highest title in the women’s division of chess competition. Her achievement comes after significant controversy around FIDE, the international organization for chess competition, which stated months ago that transgender women have “no right to participate” in women’s chess.

When asked about the significance of her achievement, Yosha told Erin in the Morning that her training with Annemarie Meier, a transgender German chess player, convinced her that winning the title would be an uplifting and inspirational message for young trans women everywhere. This turned out to be true; following her victory, one transgender chess player who had stopped playing after transitioning informed her that they were inspired to return to the game.

“For me, it's a life achievement. And it turned out that I had underestimated the impact on trans players and also trans non-players. I've received so many lovely messages. One of the most moving was from a trans player who told me she had quit chess to transition but that my story inspired her to return to competition,” Yosha tells Erin in the Morning.

The achievement is a rare one. Chess.com reports that there are only 846 active WIMs globally, a small fraction of the millions of chess players worldwide. Established in 1950, this title recognizes the accomplishments of women in the game. While women are equally capable as men in intellectual and skill-based pursuits like chess, the women’s category aims to encourage female participation in a sport where women are significantly underrepresented. Women often face challenges due to sexism, differences in monetary support, training, and participation in a predominantly male-dominated field.

The achievement also comes after a significant controversy in FIDE. In August of 2023, FIDE announced that under new rules, transgender women had “no right to participate” in women’s chess. Instead, the organization would evaluate trans participation in a process that could take up to 2 years, and all transgender players would have a “transgender” mark in their files. Likewise, trans players could only compete with updated legal identification documents - a major problem given that many political bodies have removed the ability of transgender people to update their identification. It was later revealed that the change was pushed, in part, by anti-trans conservative influencer Riley Gaines in the United States.

This decision was heavily criticized at the time by Yosha, who said that under the new regulations, a transgender woman could be “forced to play as a boy and under her former masculine name until she could change her ID.”

She then then noted that the new regulations would force transgender chess players all over the world to choose between their transition and chess.

Yosha does not only fight for transgender inclusion in the game, but also for the rights of women and in combating sexism. She was one of 14 female French chess players and 150 players worldwide who signed a letter exposing sexist behavior in the chess competition community worldwide. The letter received international coverage and led to some reforms in France.

“I'm very pleased with that, but we need the same kind of results internationally. The fight is only beginning,” she says.

When asked about the outpouring of support she has received from the transgender community following her victory and earning of the title, she speaks of the strong sense of sisterhood among trans women everywhere:

“In general we trans women share such a strong sense of sisterhood that the pain of one is sorrow for all of us; and the happiness of one of is joy for all of us. My greatest reward was seeing the trans community as a whole cheering my success. I'm forever grateful.”

Yosha says that for now, she will not be pursuing the highest title of Woman Grandmaster actively, though perhaps it may be a goal someday. Instead, she will focus on enjoying playing and training without additional incentives. Likewise, she will focus her energy on fighting for the rights of all women players in the game, both for LGBTQ+ rights and against sexism and sexual violence in the sport.