1w ago

Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen rejoins tournament he quit over wearing jeans - after dress code change

news.sky.com Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen rejoins tournament he quit over wearing jeans - after dress code change

Magnus Carlsen left the New York competition after he was told he had to change out of his jeans. Now, the International Chess Federation has relaxed its dress code rules to allow for "elegant deviations".

AnarchyChess @sopuli.xyz

news.sky.com /story/chess-grandmaster-rejoins-tournament-he-quit-over-wearing-jeans-after-dress-code-change-13281654

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And here I thought the whole point behind the competition was to play chess. Nothing says you think more highly of yourself than you should than to attach a dress code.
- But the checkmate doesn’t count in shorts and a tshirt. Everyone knows that. /s
  Stupid rule.
- I one changed teams in my company and went into my old office to help with an issue they had with the last thing I implemented. I walked in with shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops. I'll never forget the look on their faces. That was quite the contrast to the suit and tie I had to wear before, because our team lead was a cunt.
- That's how I feel about most jobs.
- Why I can't stand the atmosphere surrounding golf. Douuchheee alert.

I don't know him from a hole in the wall, but I wish they'd normalize jeans for office work. These are no longer the days when denim was only worn by physical laborers and looked shoddy. Jeans can look just as nice or just as awful as any other piece of clothing now.
- Normalize wearing whatever the fuck people want as long as it's not obscene or violent.
  They'll have a hard time getting me not to wear jogging pants to sit in front of a screen all day when they force me to go back to the office!
- In the mid-2000s, I was so confused by office culture and having to wear dress pants. I was venting at a tech conference about it.
  Then the room erupted in laughter. Like, Microsoft employees wearing jeans. Apple employees wearing potato sacks. IT guys wearing ThinkPads.
  In interviews, I now ask about dress code. It's a yellow flag if the company has other weird micromanaging rules. Which is also why I don't work in Fintech or gov.
  
  I'm imagining IT peeps wearing ThinkPads as loinclothes now
- Maybe it's my job (IT), but sometimes I'm the only one in shorts or a hoodie in the technical management meetings. Fuck that shit, you hired me to do lead a geek team (myself included), and I am doing it. Them servers don't give a shit about what I'm wearing. I've trimmed my mustache once this year, my beard is way too long, and I'm also expanding my tattoo sleeves, going for the neck soon. 🤷
  
  While i do get your sentiment, i also somewhat disagree. I like being professional looking while being professional looking, and then relaxing while looking relaxed. Imo it creates a barrier between work and living, så that the two are properly separated.
- I wear jeans for my office job. Granted, I also have to work with computer equipment, so I'm often moving stuff around and under desks and tables.
  Why do you want jeans specifically? You can probably find trousers that are just as comfy and durable as jeans.
  
  So it's kind of a long story! To try and shorten it: I didn't wear jeans much as a kid/teen because I have problems with my stomach and the button waist hurt my stomach. So I always had stretch pants on, and they weren't a great look for me. I was already bullied a lot and the pants didn't help any. Then I entered the working world and had to wear dressy clothes. I honestly didn't really care though. 27 years of dressy clothes, and my boss retired and her replacement did not give a flying fig what I wore. Over the years, my stomach issues had gotten worse but I actually found buttoned pants more comfortable now. I went hog wild and bought all the jeans. All kinds of cute shoes to go with the jeans. I was fashionable! Yay! Aaaand then a year ago we got a new Big Boss who decided to require uniforms. He gave us a year to get used to the idea before we had to start following the new rules. Today was actually my last jeans at work day; Thursday it's on to uniforms. I don't actually mind the uniforms, but I am seriously mourning my cute clothes because outside of work I'm basically a shut-in and will almost never wear them again.
- Ive never worked an office job where jeans weren't allowed

EDIT: I'm an idiot and after having read about Carlsen bailing on the tournament yesterday, this morning I wronglyfully assumed he gave in to get back into the tournament (especially with the quoted passage here in the comments about the other guy who changed his shoes, which made me assume wrongly). Anyway, I'm wrong, stop upvoting me. I'm really glad to hear that they changed the rules, which is the opposite of what I expected, obviously. See, this is what happens when you don't read the whole article!
~~I'm honestly with Carlsen on this and think it's a bad thing he gave in.~~
I'm a poor dirtbag,but if I was good at chess, I would think it was a farce if I was forced to buy a whole fucking outfit just to go play a chess tournament, and having these people have the audacity to fine me for being too poor to afford the appropriate clothing is just the fucking cherry on top.
The whole thing sounds really fucking classist. What's the problem with wearing jeans, a hoodie and chuck taylors? I don't see how the way you're dressed impacts your ability to play chess. This is dumb as living fuck and classist as fuck.
- The headline is a little ambiguous, but he didn't give in; they relaxed the dress code.
- I’m confused. Carlsen didn’t give in. They changed the rules (surprisingly quickly, IMHO) to accommodate him.
  
  I’m confused.
  No, clearly I was the one who was confused.
- Anyway, I'm wrong, stop upvoting me.
  you might not like this, but i’m going to upvote you for admitting that you were wrong about something

Good on Magnus for sticking to his guns. The more I hear about that guy, the more I like him.
- He’s legit in a position where he can tell them to lick his nuts if he wants to. He was World Champion for like 5 or 6 years and decided to not defend his title because he didn’t feel like it. He routinely arrives late to arranged matches and usually still crushes despite his clock starting before he arrived. There’s no one who can really argue that he isn’t the greatest of all time, and he knows it.
  I seriously have a difficult time believing that he was unaware of the dress code since it was that way since forever… and he apparently hadn’t been playing too well this time around which has led some to speculate that this was an intentional theatrical display to have an excuse to leave the tournament. I expect he will put a bit more effort into his remaining games.

I detest dress codes, just let people wear what they want. You wanna wear jeans? Go ahead. Shorts? Fine. A nice suit? Go for it.
- So a gimp suit is perfectly acceptable attire for any event?
  
  Why not? It sets expectations for the rest of us.
- So naked is fine too? Or should there be SOME arbitrary lines?

If you're not familiar with the background
"Today, Mr. Magnus Carlsen breached the dress code by wearing jeans, which are explicitly prohibited under long-standing regulations for this event.
"The Chief Arbiter informed Mr. Carlsen of the breach, issued a $200 fine, and requested that he change his attire. Unfortunately, Mr. Carlsen declined, and as a result, he was not paired for round nine. This decision was made impartially and applies equally to all players.
"Earlier in the day, another participant, Mr. Ian Nepomniachtchi, was also fined for breaching the dress code by wearing sports shoes. However, Mr. Nepomniachtchi complied, changed into approved attire, and continued to play in the tournament.
From https://www.onmanorama.com/sports/other-sports/2024/12/28/magnus-carlsen-world-chess-championship-dress-code-violation.amp.html
- Before people get upset and call him a diva, he's really the only player with the weight to force changes like this.
  Pro chess has a terrible history with rules designed to keep the "wrong people" out of competitions. Dress codes can be used to keep poorer competitors out at the lower skill levels, and if you can't compete you can't keep increasing your own skill.
  So while Magnus could have easily switched, thousands of poor kids just starting out in lower tournaments might not be able to as easily
  
  But jeans are expensive and no where close to being a 'poor' thing?
- You forgot some relevant details, though. He offered to come back in different pants the next day. They said no, that's not good enough.
- Fined? Lol why do they think they can fine him?

Those deviations "may, in particular, include appropriate jeans matching the jacket", the new rules state.
This just in, the dress code for the FIDE chess competition now allows for contestants to wear "Canadian tuxedos", matching denim pants and jackets.

I guess it is something but honestly i would've liked to see the dress code ditched completely. This does nothing to help the guy earlier in the day who got fined for wearing sporty sneakers or w/e. You're playing chess, not some fashion show.
- Impatiently waiting for someone to show up in a mankini.

"Special assistants" will be on hand to help judges decide whether players' outfits are acceptable, according to Mr Dvorkovich.
He’s a Job Creator!

Now he can get back to praising the journalist-killing Saudis.

43 comments