Magnus Carlsen stops in the fast and blitz WC after refusing to change jeans

CNN
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World no. 1 Magnus Carlsen was kicked out of the World Rapid Chess Championship on Friday after he refused to change the jeans he was wearing, according to the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Carlsen, who has won five rapid and seven world blitz titles in the last 10 years, also withdrew from the world blitz championship that follows the tournament.

FIDE said in a statement that Carlsen violated the tournament’s dress code by wearing jeans, then refused to change clothes after the umpire asked him to and issued a $200 fine.

As a result, Carlsen would not have been paired for round nine, although he could have returned for the rest of the tournament had he not decided to walk away, according to Chess.com.

As he had performed poorly in the previous rounds, there was little chance that Carlsen could have defended his title regardless.

“This decision was made impartially and applies equally to all players,” FIDE said, adding that fellow competitor Ian Nepominatchi also breached the dress code by wearing sports shoes but continued to play after changing.

The standoff became “a matter of principle” for Carlsen, he told the chess channel Take Take Take. “I haven’t appealed, frankly I’m too old at this point to care too much if that’s what they’re going to do … nobody wants to back down if this is where we are, is fine by me,” he said. “I’m probably going to a place where the weather is a little better than here, and that’s it.”

He explained that he had been in a lunch meeting before going to the second day of the tournament and that he barely had time to go to the room, change, put on a shirt, jacket, and honestly I didn’t even think about the jeans.

“I came here and I don’t know if it was after the first game or the second game … I got fined, which is fine, and then I got a warning that I wouldn’t be paired if I didn’t change my clothes,” he said.

“They said I could do it after the third round today. I said I’ll change tomorrow if that’s ok, I didn’t even know today. But they said you have to change now.”

Relations between Carlsen, chess’ most famous player, and FIDE, the sport’s governing body, have become more strained recently.

Carlsen said his “patience with (FIDE) wasn’t very great to begin with,” accusing the organization of “actively going after players to get them not to sign with Freestyle (Chess),” a tournament where the pieces on the back. rank start in a random position, and which Carlsen promotes.

FIDE’s managing director Emil Sutovsky responded with a statement regarding social media platform Xcalling that claim a “lie”.

“We were happy to collaborate (as we collaborate with the Grand Chess Tour, for example), to align the calendars, etc.,” he said.

“The only thing we insisted on – no series or tour can be called World Championship unless FIDE approves it. FIDE is the governing body of chess and any World Championship must either be conducted or approved by FIDE.”