World no.1 Magnus Carlsen has made an U-turn and will be returning to the World Blitz Championship on Monday in New York, two days after he was disqualified for violating the dress code by wearing a jeans. The development comes in after International Chess Federation (FIDE) decided to loosen their stand and allow Carlsen in jeans with a jacket.
The announcement of Carlsen‘s return was first announced in an interview with IM Levy Rozman for the Take Take Take app. “Long story short: We can talk about how it got there, but I am playing at least one more day in New York, and if I do well, another day after that,” Carlsen, a five-time world champion said.
Meanwhile, FIDE also issued a statement confirming Carlsen’s participation. “FIDE is pleased to confirm that Magnus Carlsen will participate in the FIDE World Blitz Championship,” it said.
“FIDE looks forward to continuing our collaboration with Mr. Carlsen and the global chess community to enhance the conditions and atmosphere of FIDE competitions, ensuring the best possible experience for players and fans alike.
This is great news for the chess world. We are delighted that the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion will be competing to defend his title and aim for another crown at the highly anticipated event in New York,” the statement further added.
What happened with Carlsen?
The events began when Carlsen wore jeans and a sportcoat Friday to the Rapid World Championship, which is separate from but held in conjunction with the blitz event. The chess federation said Friday that longstanding rules prohibit jeans at those tournaments, and players are lodged nearby to make sartorial switch-ups easy if needed.
An official fined Carlsen $200 and asked him to change pants, but he refused and wasn’t paired for a ninth-round game, the federation said at the time. The organisation noted that another grandmaster, Ian Nepomniachtchi, was fined earlier in the day for wearing sports shoes, changed and continued to play.
Carlsen has said that he offered to wear something else the next day, but officials were unyielding. He said “it became a bit of a matter of principle,” so he quit the rapid and blitz championships.
In the video posted Sunday, he questioned whether he had indeed broken a rule and said changing clothes would have needlessly interrupted his concentration between games. He called the punishment “unbelievably harsh”. “Of course, I could have changed. Obviously, I didn’t want to,” he said, and “I stand by that”.
