In the battle between everyman sartorial innovation and the international body that governs the game of chess, the humble blue jean has emerged victorious. On Monday, five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, 34, agreed to return to World Rapid Blitz Chess Championships in New York after being told he could compete in jeans after all. On Friday, the Norwegian grandmaster quit the competition over a dispute about his outfit: a blue button-down shirt paired with a gray pinstriped blazer, black boots and fitted blue jeans. Carlsen had come straight from a lunch meeting without really thinking about his clothes. He had already played a few rounds when tournament officials told him he was in violation of a dress code requiring “dark colored trousers.” The infraction carried a $200 fine. Carlsen promised to wear something nicer the next day but was told he had to change immediately or leave. “At that point it became a bit of a matter of principle for me,” he told the chess outlet Take Take Take. But all is well that ends well. The International Chess Federation agreed on Sunday to relax its dress code to allow “elegant minor deviations” like Carlsen’s, the BBC reported. And with that, Carlsen in back in action. “Oh, I am definitely playing in jeans tomorrow,” he wrote on social media platform X.
