Fit check mate.
Chess titan Magnus Carlsen quit a pair of tournaments in New York Friday after the sport’s governing body told him he couldn’t wear jeans while participating in his matches.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) said Carlsen had violated its dress code by donning denim while competing at the World Rapid Championship.
But the global No. 1 chess player refused to change even after the chief arbiter had requested he do so and fined him $200.
Carlsen, 34, subsequently was not paired for round nine of the tournament, but he could have returned to compete in the following round, according to Chess.com
In addition to quitting the World Rapid Chess Championship over the fashion fracas, Carlsen also pulled out of the Blitz Chess Championships, which are set to take place after the current tournament.
Carlsen has won the Rapid tournament seven times and the Blitz five times in the past decade, according to CBS.
The dispute with the tournament’s officials ultimately had been a “matter of principle,” Carlsen told the chess outlet Take Take Take.
Carlsen said he had been at a lunch meeting on the second day of the tournament and had to rush to change before participating in the next round.
“I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly, like, I didn’t even think about jeans, even changed my shoes,” Carlsen told the chess outlet.
“I didn’t even think about it,” he said, adding, “First of all, I got a fine, which is fine, and then I got a warning that I would not be paired if I didn’t go change my clothes. They said that I could do it after the third round today.
“I said, ‘I’ll change tomorrow if that’s OK. I didn’t even realize it today,’ but they said, ‘Well, you have to change now.’ At that point it became a bit of a matter of principle for me.”
Carlsen said that he wouldn’t dispute the organization’s decision.
“Honestly, I am too old at this point to care too much,” he said.
“If this is what they want to do … and this is where we are. It’s fine by me. I’ll probably head off to somewhere where the weather is a bit nicer than here.”
The FIDE for its part said its dress code is intended to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.”
It added the the decision to penalize Carlsen was made “impartially.”
Another player in the World Rapid Championship, Ian Nepomniachtchi, was fined for violating the dress code by wearing sports shoes, but he changed into approved attire and continued on in the tournament, FIDE noted.