World Championships Rapid and Blitz: Champion Carlsen disqualified for turning up in denim trousers

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

Arjun in joint lead

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Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi emerged as one of the four co-leaders on seven points after another impressive day at the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship. In the women’s section, India’s Koneru Humpy won four games on the trot to find herself in lead on 6.5 points with compatriot D Harika and Wenjun Ju of China.

Defending champion Carlsen was fined $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.

The Norwegian ace had agreed to follow the dress code from the next day but was not ready to do it immediately. “I would rather be at someplace with better weather,” was how Carlsen summed up his disqualification from the championship, which he won the last two years.

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 online. “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.”

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.

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand said FIDE didn’t want to disqualify Carlsen but the Norwegian left them with no choice. “He simply refused to follow the rules, left us with little choice,” Anand, the deputy president of chess’ global governing body, said. “Obviously, it was not a step we wanted to take.”

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 said. “I said I don’t want to bother changing now, but I can change tomorrow. 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 $12 million. In freestyle chess, chess pieces can be shuffled in any order. This was an idea propagated by the great Bobby Fischer.