Chess Champ Rejoins Competition After Quitting Over Dress Code

A world champion at chess voluntarily disqualified himself on “principle” after being asked to comply with the competition’s dress code, but is now returning to the competition on Monday as the rules have been loosened.

Magnus Carlsen, 34, dropped out of the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York on Friday, December 27 after being fined $200 and asked to change out of his blue jeans. But now jeans are sometimes permitted.

International Chess Federation President Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement on Sunday that he would now allow World Blitz Championship tournament officials to consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket, and other “elegant minor deviations” from the dress code, per AP.

Dvorkovich said the incident highlighted the need for the organization “to ensure that our rules and their application reflect the evolving nature of chess as a global and accessible sport.”

Carlsen, a Norwegian chess grandmaster, is a five-time World Rapid Chess Champion and the reigning seven-time World Blitz Chess Champion, People reported. 

 The International Chess Federation (FIDE) said in a statement on Friday that Carlsen “declined” to change clothing and was “not paired for round nine.”

“This decision was made impartially and applies equally to all players,” the statement continued, noting that another player was fined earlier in the day for a different dress code violation. That player “complied, changed into approved attire, and continued to play in the tournament.”

“The dress code regulations are drafted by members of the FIDE Athletes Commission, which is composed of professional players and experts. These rules have been in place for years and are well-known to all participants and are communicated to them ahead of each event. FIDE has also ensured that the players’ accommodation is within a short walking distance from the playing venue, making adherence to the rules more convenient.”

The statement concluded, “FIDE remains committed to promoting chess and its values, including respect for the rules that all participants agree to follow.”

Carlsen posted a photo of himself in the jeans on social media alongside the caption, “OOTD” (outfit of the day).

OOTD pic.twitter.com/9reOP6zuJv

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) December 28, 2024

Carlsen did an interview with the chess app Take Take Take on Saturday, saying he “barely had time” to change and mentioned that he offered not to wear jeans the next day but refused to comply on Friday as “a matter of principle.”

“I said, ‘I’ll change tomorrow if that’s okay, I just didn’t even realize it today,’ but they said, ‘Well, you have to change now,’ and, well, at that point it became, you know, a bit of a matter of principle for me,” he told Take Take Take. “And yeah, so here we are.”

“Honestly, I’m too old at this point to care too much. If this is what they [FIDE] 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,” Carlsen said. 

Carlsen accused FIDE of pressuring other players to avoid the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, which was started by Jan Henric Buettner. He said the organization was “basically threatening them that they wouldn’t be able to play the world championship cycle if they played in Freestyle.”

“So honestly my patience with [FIDE] was not very big to begin with, and it’s okay,” he said. “They can enforce their rules, that’s fine by me, and my response is that fine, then I’m out, like, f*** you.”

Carlsen previously made headlines when he resigned from a chess tournament in 2022 after one move because he was playing against someone he suspected had cheated in a previous tournament.