Chess: former world champion Magnus Carlsen out of World Championships over a pair of jeans

Chess: former world champion Magnus Carlsen out of Worlds over a pair of jeans

A surprising case has broken out in chess: former world champion and the number one chess player on the planet, Magnus Carlsen, has è sensationally withdrawn from the World Rapid and Blitz Championships after being fined for violating the 'dress code'.

The Norwegian chess player, who has long been in open controversy with the International Chess Federation (FIDE), è showed up for the first games wearing jeans, violating the rules regarding players'dress code for competing.

Carlsen was initially fined $200, then refused to change between the seventh and ninth rounds of play: the organizers thus decided not to assign him a challenger for the ninth round, the last of the day.

In response Carlsen left the tournament, withdrawing from both the rapid and blitz competitions, speaking of "a matter of principle". "If this è what they want to do I will go away to a place with a better climate than this and read to you from there. Honestly I am too old at this point to worry about it too much. I’m fed up, I don’t want anything more to do with them", Carlsen told VG.