Defending champion Magnus Carlsen will now compete in the World Blitz Chess Championship after the jeans scandal.
29.12.2024, 22:52
30.12.2024, 07:38
SDA
"Long story short: we can talk about how it came about, but I'll play at least one more day in New York, and if I do well, one more day after that," the 34-year-old Norwegian announced in an interview on the chess platform "Take Take Take". The day before, the grandmaster had announced his complete withdrawal from the tournament in frustration - in a dispute over the World Chess Federation's rules on dress code, which prohibit the wearing of jeans.
The rapid chess tournament was played without Carlsen, with the surprise winner being the 18-year-old Russian Volodar Mursin. The two-day World Blitz Championship begins on Monday.
The world federation FIDE immediately welcomed back the number 1 in the world chess rankings. It is looking forward to "continuing the cooperation with Mr. Carlsen and the global chess community", it said in a message on the X platform. This was preceded by "many discussions", as Carlsen revealed. He later announced on X: "Oh, I'll definitely be playing in jeans tomorrow."
