Carlsen disqualified from top chess meet for violating dress code

New York, Dec 28 (PTI) Five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen was first fined and then disqualified from the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship here for his refusal to comply with the FIDE’s dress code after turning up in jeans here.

Defending champion Carlsen was fined USD 200 for wearing jeans, which are “explicitly prohibited” under tournament regulations and when he refused the request to change his attire right after the eighth round by chief arbiter Alex Holowczak, he was disqualified.

He was not paired for Round 9 of the Rapid championship, taking place at Wall Street.

One of the game’s greatest players, the Norwegian ace had agreed to follow the dress from the next day but was not ready to do it immediately, resulting in his disqualification.

“I would rather be at someplace with better weather,” was how Carlsen summed up his disqualification from the championship in which he has won in the last two editions.

In a statement, the game’s global governing body FIDE emphasised that the dress code rules are well-communicated to all participants and designed to ensure professionalism.

“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 said in the statement, posted on ‘X’.

“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.”

It added, “Today, Mr. Magnus Carlsen breached the dress code by wearing jeans, which are explicitly prohibited under long-standing regulations for this event. The Chief Arbiter informed Mr. Carlsen of the breach, issued a USD 200 fine, and requested that he change his attire.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Carlsen declined, and as a result, he was not paired for round nine. This decision was made impartially and applies equally to all players.”

Earlier, Russian Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi was also penalised for a similar violation but he complied by changing his attire, allowing him to continue in the event.

Meanwhile, “upset” with the turn of events, Carlsen said he won’t participate in the Blitz section of the championship as he is “pretty tired” of FIDE’s dress code policies.

“I am pretty tired of FIDE, so I want no more of this. I don’t want anything to do with them. I am sorry to everyone at home, maybe it’s a stupid principle, but I don’t think it’s any fun,” Carlsen told Norwegian broadcasting channel NRK.

“I said I don’t want to bother changing now, but I can change until tomorrow, that’s fine. But they didn’t want to compromise. I’ve reached a point where I am pretty upset with FIDE, so I didn’t want to either. Then that’s how it goes,” he added.

The Carlsen dress code fiasco is being seen as a signal to the chess world about his keenness to develop the faster version of the game that he considers as a “real skill” as well as his personal interest about developing the “freestyle chess” for which he recently raised USD 12 million.

Freestyle chess, as he prefers to call it, is the version of the game wherein chess pieces can be shuffled in any order. This was an idea propagated by the great Bobby Fischer.

“This is a war with FIDE (the game’s apex body),” said Norwegian sports broadcaster Kaja Snare before adding that this is the end of an era for world chess.