If the clothes make the man, chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is the man.
Carlsen, the top chess player in the world, quit the Rapid World Championship over the weekend after a dispute over the jeans he was wearing. However, the grandmaster was back in action in New York on Monday at the World Blitz Championship.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) issued a warning to Carlsen on Friday, saying that he would be disallowed from future competition until he stopped wearing jeans.
The federation claimed that the jeans violated the organization’s dress code, which was “designed to ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.”
A defiant Carlsen shot back, saying in no uncertain terms that he would not comply.
“It’s OK, they can enforce their rules,” he continued. “That’s fine by me, and my response is that’s fine, then I’m out, f*ck you.”
Despite claiming to be “out,” Carlsen did appear for Monday’s World Blitz Championship in jeans.
“I think the situation was badly mishandled on their side,” Carlsen said in an interview with Take Take Take on Sunday.
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said the organization would loosen dress codes for this tournament.
“As far as the application of the rules during the World Blitz Championships is concerned, based on the consultations with our partners and their preferences, I took the decision to trial an approach to provide more flexibility to FIDE officials in judgements regarding the suitability of the attire,” the statement read.
“Special assistants will be requested to help in those judgements and make final conclusions, shall any doubts arise. The principle is simple: it is still required to follow the official dress-code, but elegant minor deviations (that may, in particular, include appropriate jeans matching the jacket) are allowed. In the end, it is New Year time, and I sincerely hope that nobody would try to undermine the festive mood, including by abusing this additional flexibility.”
Carlsen is expected to compete again on Tuesday.
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