After the scandal with Magnus Carlsen, FIDE backed down and the Norwegian will compete in the World Blitz Chess Championship

Finally, on Monday, Magnus Carlsen will participate in World Blitz Chess Championship after his governing body agreed to relax a dress code that earned him a fine and was barred from playing a late-round match at another tournament for refusing to change out of his jeans.

The situation that occurred this Friday in New York lacks common sense: Magnus Carlsen, perhaps the best in history, was disqualified from the Quick Games World Cup for having violated the “dress code.” He was kicked out of the contest for showing up to the gaming room wearing jeans. It sounds surreal, but it’s real. It’s as if FIFA threw Lionel Messi out of the World Cup for having entered a match with the wrong cleats. In that case, surely FIFA, intelligently, would tell the Argentine captain to try to change them, and thus not lose his great figure. Well, in chess it didn’t happen and there was no turning back.

“Head referee Alex Holowzsak has declared that Magnus Carlsen has been expelled from the tournament and will not be paired in the ninth round for violating the dress code”they explained from FIDE. The curious thing is that other players went with similar looks and were not sanctioned. Only Ian Nepomniachtchi had suffered it, although the Russian chose to change his shoes.

While analyzing his win against compatriot Aryan Tari on a live stream, Carlsen heard the news, accepted the decision and stated: “It’s okay, they can enforce their rules, that’s fine with me, and my answer is: Okay, then I’m leaving, fuck you.”

Now, International Chess Federation president Arkady Dvorkovich has lamented the setbacks, issuing a statement explaining that he instructed Blitz World Championship tournament officials to consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket and other “minor and graceful deviations” from the dress code.

As explained by the FIDE boss, Carlsen’s position last Friday, which culminated in his abandonment of the tournament, made clear the need for more discussion “to ensure that our rules and their application reflect the changing nature of chess as a sport. global and accessible”.

Meanwhile, Carlsen said in a video posted Sunday on social media that he would play (and wear jeans) in the World Blitz Championship when it begins on Monday.

“I think the situation was mishandled on their part,” said the 34-year-old Norwegian grandmaster. But he added that he loves playing blitz, a fast-paced form of chess, and wanted fans to be able to watch it, and that he was encouraged by his conversations with the federation after Friday’s showdown.

“I definitely think I’ll wear jeans tomorrow,” the world number one ironically wrote in a tweet.

The Blitz Chess World Cup starts this Monday at 4 p.m. in Argentina. Thirteen rounds will be played and, from our country, the grandmaster Pablo Zarnicki and the international masters Faustino Oro (11 years old) and Ilan Schnaider (13) will participate.