Big fuss about Magnus Carlsen: The 34-year-old superstar from Norway caused a scandal at the World Rapid Chess Championship in New York – with his choice of clothing, or more precisely with his trousers.
After being punished for violating the dress code by the world association FIDE, the 34-year-old Norwegian announced his immediate withdrawal from the tournament. He will no longer play and will travel to “where the weather is a little better than here,” said Carlsen on “Take Take Take”.
The number 1 in the world chess rankings appeared in jeans for the game day on Friday, which the participants are prohibited from doing according to the rules.
After his second game of the day, Carlsen received a $200 fine from the organizer and an ultimatum to change immediately. However, Carlsen refused and was subsequently disqualified for round nine.
“Mr. Magnus Carlsen violated the dress code by wearing jeans, which are expressly prohibited for this event under long-standing regulations,” the world association said. “These rules have been in place for years and are known to all participants and communicated to them before each event.”
Carlsen then rejected a possible continuation of the tournament in the remaining rounds. “I didn’t even think about the jeans. At some point it became a question of principle for me.”
“He would have had enough time to change,” emphasized FIDE boss Emil Sutovsky, “but unfortunately he decided not to do that. It’s unfortunate.”
World Rapid Chess Championship: Day 1 a “disaster” for Magnus Carlsen
Things also went suboptimally for Carlsen at the World Rapid Chess Championship. After the first day he was only in 83rd place in the table. He surprisingly lost to Denis Lazavik from Russia, who was only 18 years old.
The alarm bells were already ringing in Carlsen’s Norwegian homeland. “This is a catastrophe,” said chess expert Kristoffer Gressli on the “NRK” broadcaster. His colleague Torstein Bae said: “A very disappointing day for Magnus Carlsen.”
After the game against Lazavik, Carlsen appeared to be a fair loser on the “NRK” microphone and congratulated the youngster on his victory: “It was deserved. He played well, much better than me.”
Source: www.sport.de
