Magnus Carlsen on wearing jeans: ‘It was appropriate for a 200-player chess tournament’ | Chess News
Magnus Carlsen said that he doesn’t had any issue with the fine and the rules but it was the intent of the rule that forced him to pull out. However, Magnus Carlsen on Sunday has confirmed that he will be playing in the World Blitz Championship a couple of days after he pulled out because he was fined FIDE for violating the dress code rules wearing jeans on day 2 of the event.
“I think it has to be about the intent of the rule, right? Not necessarily like the very minutes of the letter of the law. I think that’s how any reasonable arbiter, like any reasonable body of, that’s how it should be,” he told “Take Take Take.”
“I thought the punishment that they were going to hand out for was unbelievably harsh. And yeah, I didn’t agree with it. I didn’t want to comply.
“And I stand that. Of course, I could have done what other players do, but what will happen now is that there will be some leeway, like there will be some room for arbiters to actually use common sense. And I think we sort of all want the same thing.
“We don’t want people turning up to these tournaments not putting any effort whatsoever into how they present themselves. Nobody thinks that that’s what should happen. We want the players to be comfortable, sure, but also relatively presentable.
“So myself, other players, and FIDE, we’re not in, I think, generally not too much in disagreement. I know that not every player has the same means for clothes and so on, but I think it’s good that they’re making at least some sort of effort. So we’re generally not in disagreement.”
Magnus Carlsen says he accepted the fine as it was an honest make and said he would change the next day but FIDE officials didn’t comply at all.
“I just think that… And it’s not like I didn’t comply at all. I accepted the fine, no question, and I said that it was an honest make and that I would change the next day. It’s not like I didn’t comply at all,” he said.
“And there was a thing in Kazakhstan a couple of years ago where through my own fault, obviously, I was late back from a ski trip, stuck in traffic, and I turned up in sweatpants or whatever because I simply did not have time to change. I also had no idea that the games were about to start, so I was just trying to get there as quickly as possible. And I know that generally that’s not acceptable.
“So the fact that they… I don’t remember if they warned me or fined me or whatever. Of course, and I changed before the next round. Obviously, I did because what I wore was not appropriate attire at all.
“What I wore a couple of days ago was, in my opinion, and I think of any reasonable person, it was appropriate for a 200-player chess tournament.”
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