 "Yosha Iglesias recently became the second transgender woman to win a national title. Image: Federación Francesa de Ajedrez / Nathalie Daubry")
French transgender chess player Yosha Iglesias achieved a new landmark recently by winning the national Women’s Championship. The 37-year-old Yosha Iglesias is the second transgender woman to win a national title and the first to earn a Woman International Master title.
Yosha made history as the first transgender Woman international Master last year in April after completing her fourth norm at a closed international women’s tournament in Rouen, France.
Who is Yosha Iglesias, the first transgender WIM?
Iglesias has had a tough journey as a chess player so far, as she left her home as a teenager in France in 2004 to live in Sochi, Russia, where she trained under an International Master, who had played against legendary Mikhail Tal, and also met former world champion Boris Spassky there.
“I was 16, I already knew that I was, let’s say, different,” Yosha told TimesofIndia.com, explaining her journey. “I wanted to live as far away as possible from my parents in France. And back then, Russia was the capital of chess.”
However, after facing restrictions on her choices, Yosha returned to France at the age of 18 and launched a new career as a chess coach. Yosha, who identifies as a woman, wanted to transition upon her return to France, but with a meagre income of €1,000 per month, she had to shelve her plans.
“I really wanted to transition already back then,” Yosha added. “But at that time, it felt impossible to continue playing chess and living as a trainer while transitioning. The world was harsher back then. I tried to live as a man, but I just could not. I was really depressed. I was also struggling with alcohol. Happiness felt impossible. I was not living, I was surviving day by day.”
In 2020, Yosha eventually decided to undergo transitioning and accept her identity. “My real life started when I accepted who I already was and began my transition in 2020,” she said. “To be finally seen and accepted as a woman; it felt amazing."
The Times of India report revealed that she has paid a whopping €20,000 so far for the transitioning, including €5,000 for facial feminisation surgery, which she crowd-funded from the chess community.
“Within three days, players from all over the world donated. Some were friends, some were stars I never met. I felt part of a family. For me, it was proof that FIDE’s motto, we are one family, can truly come alive,” she said.
Despite transitioning, it has not been an easy world for Yosha, who continues to face insults for her transgender identity.
“When I became the first trans Woman International Master, when I won anything, I received hundreds of insults,” she told TOI. “Sometimes thousands. And I kept wondering, how so many people in the world have the time to insult me? I’m just a chess player.”
Having fought multiple odds, Yosha now wants to continue her chess fight with more vigour and achieve more. “I am as motivated as ever to give my energy to this fantastic game," she said.