Chess player Magnus Carlsen will return to the World Blitz Championship on Monday after his governing body agreed to relax a dress code that earned him a fine and him being denied a last-round match at another tournament for refusing to change out of his jeans.
Lamenting the setbacks, International Chess Federation president Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement Sunday that he had let World Blitz Championship tournament officials consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket and other “minor, stylish deviations.” ” of the dress code.
He said Carlsen's position, which culminated in his withdrawal from the tournament on Friday, highlighted the need for more discussion “to ensure that our rules and their application reflect the evolving nature of chess as a global and accessible sport.”
Meanwhile, Carlsen said in a video posted Sunday on social media that he would play (and wear jeans) in the World Blitz Championship when it begins on Monday.
“I think the situation was mishandled on their part,” said the 34-year-old Norwegian grandmaster. But he added that he loves playing blitz – a fast-paced form of chess – and wanted fans to be able to watch it, and that he was encouraged by his conversations with the federation after Friday's showdown.
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“I think we all want the same thing,” he suggested in the video on the YouTube channel of his chess app Take Take Take. “We want the players to be comfortable, of course, but also relatively presentable.”
The events began with Carlsen wearing jeans and a sports jacket on Friday for the World Rapid Championship, which is separate but held in conjunction with the blitz event. The chess federation said Friday that long-standing rules prohibit jeans at such tournaments, and players are housed nearby to facilitate clothing changes if necessary.
An official fined Carlsen $200 and asked him to change pants, but he refused and was not matched for a ninth-round game, the federation said at the time. The organization noted that another grandmaster, Ian Nepomniachtchi, was fined earlier that day for wearing athletic shoes, changed and continued playing.
Carlsen has said he offered to wear something else the next day, but officials were adamant. He said that “it became a matter of principle,” so he abandoned the rapid and blitz championships.
In the video posted Sunday, he questioned whether he had actually broken a rule and said changing clothes would have unnecessarily interrupted his concentration between games. He called the punishment “incredibly harsh.”
“Of course, it could have changed. “I obviously didn’t want to,” he said, and “I stand by it.”
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