Fu** you, I’m out: Why jeans-clad Magnus Carlsen quit Rapid and Blitz Championship

Magnus Carlsen, a multiple-time world champion and the reigning World Rapid and Blitz champion, quit the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championship after being fined by FIDE for violating the dress code.

FIDE explained their decision in a statement, while Carlsen expressed his frustration, saying, “I said I’ll change tomorrow … but they said you have to change now. 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.”

Carlsen, who suffered a defeat to Denis Lazavik and was held to draws by Awonder Liang, Gleb Dudin, and Aleksandr Shimanov on the opening day, continued to struggle on the second day. He explained why he would not return to play: “Yesterday was a difficult day. I lost one game and could have lost a couple more. Generally, I was not playing well, a bit out of control,” he said on the YouTube channel Take Take Take.

Carlsen detailed the events leading to the controversy: “I had a really good sleep and a nice lunch meeting before I came here. I just barely had time to go to my room and change, so I put on a shirt and a jacket. Honestly, I didn’t even think about the jeans.

“I even changed my shoes but didn’t consider the jeans. When I arrived, I don’t remember if it was after the first or second game, but I got a warning. First, I was fined, and then I was told I wouldn’t be paired if I didn’t go change my jeans immediately. They said I could do it after the third round.

“I said I’d change tomorrow if that’s okay, as I hadn’t even realized it today. But they insisted I change immediately. At that point, it became a matter of principle for me.”

When asked if he had appealed the decision, Carlsen replied: “No, I haven’t appealed. Honestly, I’m too old at this point to care too much. If this is what they want to do, I guess it goes both ways, right? Nobody wants to back down, and this is where we are. It’s fine by me. I’ll probably head somewhere with nicer weather than here.”

Carlsen confirmed that he would also skip the Blitz Championship. “I mean, no,” he stated simply.

The Norwegian also criticised FIDE for enforcing its rules rigidly: “I don’t know if this has happened in the past, but there was this whole thing where FIDE actively went after players, threatening them if they signed with Freestyle. They essentially warned that players wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the World Championship cycle if they did.

“Honestly, my patience with them was already thin. They can enforce their rules, and that’s fine by me. My response is, ‘Fine, then I’m out. F*** you.’ I don’t think anything more needs to be said.”

At the time of his withdrawal, Carlsen had scored 5/8 and was 1.5 points behind the leaders, with little chance of retaining his title. After eight of the 13 rounds, Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Arjun Erigaisi (India), and Alexander Grischuk (Russia) led with 6.5/8. Nine players on 6/8 included Russia’s 18-year-old Volodar Murzin, who had defeated both the No. 2 seed and U.S. champion Fabiano Caruana, as well as world No. 3 and speed specialist Hikaru Nakamura.