Udaipur, December 28, 2024 – Norwegian chess grandmaster and five-time World champion, Magnus Carlsen was disqualified from the ongoing World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in New York because he had breached the tournament’s formal dress code by turning up for the game in jeans.

The International Chess Federation body FIDE (Federation Internationale des Echecs) said it had given Carlsen a chance to change his attire but he refused to do so.

The 34-year-old Norwegian chess grandmaster, who trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest-rated player in the world, said he had a lunch meeting before the round and did not realise that he should change.

“I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like I didn’t even think about jeans, even changed my shoes,” Carlsen said. He came straight to the games and when asked to change, he told: “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 was also fined $200 for the wrong dress code which is “explicitly prohibited”.

The player, who holds the No. 1 position in the FIDE world chess rankings since 1 July 2011, was not paired for Round 9 of the Rapid Championship that was being held in Wall Street.

FIDE says the dress code regulations had been designed to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.”

Earlier in the day, another player Ian Nepomniachtchi was fined for a breach of dress code for wearing sports shoes instead of the formal ones. However,  he changed into the correct shoes and was allowed to carry on.

Carlsen has been World Champion between 2013 and 2023, is the reigning five-time World Rapid Chess Champion, the reigning seven-time World Blitz Chess Champion and the reigning Chess World Cup Champion.