World number one chess player Magnus Carlsen says he will return to major chess competitions after the sport’s governing body agreed to relax dress codes.
Carlsen quit defending his title at the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York on Friday after being told he could not continue playing in jeans.
The International Chess Federation (Fide) later said it would relax its dress code to allow for “elegant and minor deviations” from the official list of acceptable attire.
The 34-year-old later said he would return to competition on Monday and would continue to wear jeans when playing.
Carlsen, a five-time chess champion, was fined $200 (£159) last week for breaching the tournament’s dress code.
He said he wore jeans to lunch meetings and “didn’t even think about” swapping them out for a different pair when he went to a tournament.
He’s already been told he violated the dress code after playing a few rounds in a shirt, blazer and jeans.
The Fide dress code for the championships states that men must wear “dark colored trousers”, but jeans are not permitted if wearing business casual attire.
The Grand Master said he offered to change his trousers the next day, but refused after being told he had to change immediately.
Carlsen said he would withdraw from the competition and leave the city.
“Nobody wants to back out, maybe go somewhere where the weather is a little better than here,” he said.
Announcing the dress code changes on Sunday, Fide president Arkady Dvorkovich said: “The principle is simple: you still have to follow the official dress code, but there are elegant, minor differences. In particular, clothes (which may include matching jeans and jackets) are permitted. .”
He added that tournament staff should help determine whether attire fits the relaxed code and that he hoped players would not “abuse this additional flexibility” and “detract from the festive atmosphere” at New Year’s Eve tournaments.
“Oh, I will definitely be playing in jeans tomorrow,” Carlson said on social media Sunday.
Fide previously said its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure fairness and professionalism for all participants.”
Carlsen is a prominent figure in the chess world who has stirred controversy in recent years.
The Norwegian became grandmaster, the world’s highest title, at the age of 13 and has long been considered a dominant force in the world of chess.
In 2023, he settled a long-running legal dispute after accusing his American rival of cheating.
Carlsen made the accusation after an unexpected loss to 19-year-old chess prodigy Hans Niemann in a 2022 match.
Niemann denies the claims and has filed a $100 million (£79 million) defamation suit against Carlsen, the website Chess.com and another American grandmaster.
Last August, Chess.com said: The lawsuit was settled out of court.And it was no trick that Carlsen now accepted Niemann.
