Magnus Carlsen, the world's top-rated chess player, refused to change out of jeans at the World Rapid Championship in New York. He was disqualified, and subsequently withdrew from the Blitz tournament too.
Fide explained their decision in a statement while Carlsen said: "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."
At the time of his default, Carlsen had scored 5/8 and was a point and a half behind the leaders, with little chance of retaining his title
One one hand, the dress code was no secret, Carlsen seems to have a reputation for boorish behavior, and he was losing. On the other hand, the dress code is silly and creepy, is a recent invention, and the officiating body is infamously corrupt. On both hands, there's an ongoing feud—Carlson is the latest of many recalcitrant champions to sicken of FIDE in favor of alternatives.
Previously:
• How to play chess like an asshole
• I love watching this chess player crush obnoxious dudes
• Chess grandmaster accused of using toilet phone to cheat