No transgenders in chess?
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(old article, but..)
https://theconversation.com/why-theres-a-separate-world-chess-championship-for-women-129293
Male chess player disguises himself as woman, cheats way through championship tournament
In a bizarre turn of events at the Kenya Open Chess Championship in Nairobi, a sneaky man dressed as a woman managed to cheat his way through to the female section of the tournament.
The cunning impostor, who kept his true identity a secret by wearing a niqab and never speaking to anyone, registered under the name Millicent Awuor, fooling even the tournament staff.
However, his cover was blown when he beat former national champion Gloria Jumba and Ugandan top player Ampaira Shakira, arousing suspicion from other players and the arbiters.
The tournament staff, initially hesitant to intervene, finally decided to investigate after the fourth round, according to Chess.com.
In a private room, the man was asked for identification, and he eventually came clean, admitting that he was a university student who needed the cash.
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And if you thought that was weird, later in the story...
The bizarre scene followed another major chess scandal that took the world by storm in late 2022, which included wild allegations of using technology — including vibrating “anal beads” — to signal winning moves after a teenage newcomer beat a world champion at a high-stakes tournament.
Hans Niemann, 19, of San Francisco, Calif., caused a major upset when he defeated Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, 31, at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 4, according to VICE news.
In the wake of the stunning result, the chess world exploded into such an uproar that Niemann faced allegations of cheating and was banned from chess.com — and even billionaire Elon Musk weighed in with a tweet mocking online rumors that a rectally inserted device was used in the possible scam.
“Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one can see (cause it’s in ur butt),” the Tesla CEO tweeted on Sept. 8.
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I remember the anal beads story…
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The stories don’t explain why… Why there’s a separate women’s tournament and why the 4 time champion and highest ranking woman in the world is ranked 75th in the combined rankings and wouldn’t even qualify for the top tournaments.
The Brad
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Niemann subsequently sued Magnus Carlsen and chess.com for defamation for $100 million. Case was dismissed a couple of months ago. Another grifter.
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The stories don’t explain why… Why there’s a separate women’s tournament and why the 4 time champion and highest ranking woman in the world is ranked 75th in the combined rankings and wouldn’t even qualify for the top tournaments.
@LuFins-Dad said in No transgenders in chess?:
The stories don’t explain why… Why there’s a separate women’s tournament and why the 4 time champion and highest ranking woman in the world is ranked 75th in the combined rankings and wouldn’t even qualify for the top tournaments.
That's an interesting topic. It's not impossible for women to compete with men - Judit Polgar was rated 8th in the world at one point, and had a rating over 2700 - super-grandmaster level. However, she's really the only one who's managed it. Hou Yifan was ranked 75th, but has beaten some strong male players over the years. To be fair to her, she also had a life out of chess, she was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford while she was playing professionally, and you can't really crack the top tier without dedicating your entire working life to chess.
