Magnus Carlsen left the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship after being disqualified for a dress code violation for wearing jeans, which are prohibited under FIDE’s regulations. After round seven, Carlsen was fined $200 for wearing jeans. When given an ultimatum to change before round nine or face not being paired, he refused. Chief Arbiter Alex Holowczak clarified that Carlsen was not expelled from the tournament and could still play in round 10, but by then, Carlsen had already made his decision.
During an interview, Carlsen commented:
“I said I’ll change tomorrow, but they said, ‘You have to change now,’ and it became a matter of principle for me, so here we are. Honestly, I’m too old at this point to care too much. If this is what they want to do, I’ll probably set off to somewhere where the weather is a bit nicer.”