The chess world is never short on scandals, and the latest one is incredibly on brand. Top-ranked former world champion Magnus Carlsen recently showed up to a tournament in jeans, refused to change, got fined, and then threatened to back out of the event altogether. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) then proceeded to blink first.
The drama kicked off on December 27 when Carlsen showed up to the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York wearing denim instead of slacks. FIDE said the chess world all-star was in violation of the event’s dress code and hit him with a $200 fine. When Carlsen refused to go pick up dress pants from the TJ Maxx just a block away from the Cipriani Wall Street venue, the federation upped the ante and removed the champion from his 9th round matchups.
Carlsen then called the federation’s bluff by saying he would back out altogether, ditching the Blitz Chess Championships in which he was set to defend his current title. The federation responded with a lengthy blog post announcing possible exceptions to the dress code to be made at the judges’ discretion.
“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,” the December 29 announcement read. “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.”
In an interview directly after the incident, Carlsen said that he had come to the event from a meeting and hadn’t had time to change. He added that while he had offered to change for the matches the following day, that wasn’t enough for the federation. “I’ll probably head off to somewhere where the weather is a bit nicer than here,” he quipped. But now that FIDE has backed off of its “draconian” decision, Carlsen is once again set to appear in the Blitz side of the tournament.
The five-time world champion wasn’t the only one dinged over his attire. Eighth-ranked Ian Nepomniachtchi was also fined by FIDE for wearing “sport shoes.” But Carlsen’s protest certainly made for more drama. Hans Neimann, who Carlsen previously accused of cheating in chess’ now-infamous “anal beads” scandal, said the champion had manufactured the jeans fiasco on purpose.
“Allowing a single actor to make a mockery of the tournament and then bending the knee is disappointing,” he tweeted. “FIDE has a responsibility to protect the sanctity of the game. The chesscom mafia tried to ruin my career because of a similar emotional outburst, someone must take a stand!”
Carlsen, meanwhile, plans to keep flouting the dress code, at least for the time being. “Oh, I am definitely playing in jeans tomorrow,” he tweeted over the weekend.
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