'Fine By Me': Chess Superstar Magnus Carlsen Quits World Rapid and Blitz Championships After Row Over Him Wearing Jeans

World No.1 Chess player Magnus Carlsen got into an row which led to him quitting the currently ongoing World Rapid and Blitz Championships. Carlsen who is considered as the face of Chess and is currently the best player on the planet decided to quit the championship after was asked to change out of his jeans and the Norwegian chess grandmaster refused to do so. Following this Carlsen also decided to withdraw from the World Blitz Championship which will take place following the World Rapid and Blitz Championship. 

Carlsen Quits World Rapid And Blitz Championships 

Magnus Carlsen got into it with the chess governing body FIDE regarding his attire while playing the tournament. While speaking to chess channel Take Take Take, Carlsen opened up on his altercation with the FIDE and his decision to quit the Championships. 

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“I haven’t appealed, honestly I’m too old at this point to care too much, if this is what they want to do … nobody wants to back down, if this is where we are, that’s fine by me. I’ll probably head off to somewhere where the weather is a bit nicer than here and that’s it,” said Carlsen as he lashed out against the FIDE. 

The World No.1 also explained that he did not get time to change and did not even think about the jeans. 

Relations Between Carlsen And FIDE Strained

Carlsen while speaking gave further insights into his decision to quit the tournament. 

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“I got here and I don’t know if it was after the first game or the second game … 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,” he said.

“They said I could do it after the third round today. I said I’ll change tomorrow, if that’s ok, I didn’t even realise today. But they said you have to change now,” stated Carlsen further as he explained his actions against the FIDE. 

The relations between the best chess player in the world and the governing body have become more and more strained recently ever since the Chess superstar has begun promoting Free Style Chess which has not been sitting well with the FIDE even after the governing body have released a statement stating that these claims are a lie.