A five-time world chess champion who was disqualified from a tournament has rejoined after organisers allowed him to wear jeans.
Magnus Carlsen, who was once the youngest grandmaster in the world, was barred by the governing body FIDE for violating their strict dress rule.
Carlsen is no stranger to generating headlines for chess rule breaks, having infamously once accused a rival of cheating using wireless vibrating anal beads.
This time it was the 34-year-old who thought his World Rapid Championships had ended on a bum note after being flagged for not wearing the correct attire.
Carlsen has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE world chess rankings since July 2011 and his peak 2882 rating is the highest ever.
‘The Mozart of chess’ is also a reigning five-time World Rapid Chess Champion but had seemingly surrendered the chance to claim a sixth title following Friday’s disqualification.
Carlsen was fined $200 for wearing jeans before Chief Arbiter Alex Holowzsak disqualified him for not changing between rounds.
The Norwegian reacted by withdrawing from the World Blitz next week – where he is the reigning seven-time champion.
“I am pretty tired of FIDE, so I want no more of this. I don’t want anything to do with them. I am sorry to everyone at home, maybe it’s a stupid principle, but I don’t think it’s any fun,” said Carlsen to the Norwegian broadcasting channel NRK.
Carlsen, world champion between 2013 and 2023, claimed he had been forced to change quickly for a lunch meeting before the round.
“I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like I didn’t even think about jeans, even changed my shoes,” He later told Take Take Take.
“I didn’t even think about it… First of all, I got a fine which is fine, and then I got a warning that I would not be paired if I didn’t go change my clothes. They said that I could do it after the third round today.
Carlsen (right) was told to change out of his jeans after his match against Brewington HardawayGetty“I said ‘I’ll change tomorrow if that’s OK, I didn’t even realise it today’, but they said, ‘Well you have to change now.’ At that point, it became a bit of a matter of principle for me.”
The 34-year-old added that he would not appeal the decision, adding: “Honestly, I am too old at this point to care too much.
“If this is what they want to do… I guess it goes both ways, right — nobody wants to back down — and this is where we are.
“It’s fine by me. I’ll probably head off to somewhere where the weather is a bit nicer than here.”
FIDE CEO Emil Sutovski previously claimed that Carlsen would have been allowed to continue had he changed his clothes in the allotted time.
“FIDE did not ban Magnus from the tournament. He was not paired in round 9. He can continue tomorrow,” he wrote on X.
He instead refused and was unpaired in Round 9Getty“We gave Magnus more than enough time to change. But as he had stated himself in his interview – it became a matter of principle for him.
“Rules are applicable to all the participants, and it would be unfair towards all players who respected the dress-code, and those who were previously fined.
“The dress-code was known way before, and it was suggested by Athletes Commission, consisting of grandmasters.”
Now, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has backed down by relaxing its dress code to allow ‘elegant minor deviations’.
Those deviations “may, in particular, include appropriate jeans matching the jacket”, the new rules state.
Carlsen has since said he will return to the tournament on Monday – and will continue to wear jeans when he plays.
At the time of his default, he was a point and a half behind the leaders after eight of the 13 rounds.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( ‘Mozart of chess’ rejoins tournament he was disqualified from for wearing jeans after dress rules changed )
Also on site :
- Thunder one win away from first NBA title in 46 years after defeating Pacers
- Asking Eric: Five close siblings cut sixth out of fun plans
- Who is Gareth Bale’s wife Emma Rhys-Jones, how long have they been married and how many children do they have?