Chess great Magnus Carlsen on Friday quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York after governing body FIDE barred the Norwegian from participating in a round at the tournament for wearing jeans.
FIDE said in a statement that its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.”
It issued Carlsen a US$200 fine and gave him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the world No. 1 rejected, it said.
Photo: AFP
Carlsen said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly.
“I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like I didn’t even think about jeans, even changed my shoes,” Carlsen 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,” he added.
“I said: ‘I’ll change tomorrow, if that’s OK, I didn’t even realize it today,’ but they said: ‘Well you have to change now,’” Carlsen said. “At that point it became a bit of a matter of principle for me.”
The 34-year-old said 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,” he said. “It’s fine by me. I’ll probably head off to somewhere where the weather is a bit nicer than here.”
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