Carlsen to rejoin the chess championship after the jeans dispute is resolved

World number one chess player Magnus Carlsen has said he will return to major chess competition after the sport’s governing body agreed to relax its dress code.

Carlsen pulled out of the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in New York on Friday, where he was defending his title, when he was told he could not continue playing while wearing jeans.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) later said it would relax its dress code to allow “elegant minor deviations” from its official list of acceptable attire.

The 34-year-old said he will return to competition on Monday and will continue to wear jeans when he plays.

Carlsen, a five-time chess champion, was fined $200 (£159) last week for breaching the tournament’s dress code.

He said he had worn jeans to a lunch meeting, and “didn’t even think” to trade them for another pair of pants when heading to the tournament.

He had already played a few rounds in a shirt, blazer and jeans when he was told he had broken the dress code rules.

The grandmaster said that he had offered to change his pants for the next day, but was told that he needed to change immediately, which he refused to do.

Carlsen withdrew from the competition and said he would leave the city.

“No one wants to go back… I’ll probably go somewhere where the weather is a little nicer than here,” he said.

On Sunday, the president of Fide, Arkadi Dvorkovitch, announcing the changes to his dress code, said: “The principle is simple: it is still obligatory to follow the official dress code, but elegant minor deviations (which can, in particular , include fitted jeans that match the outfit) jacket) are allowed”.

He said tournament staff would be asked to help judge whether the outfits fit the relaxed code, and added that he hoped players would not “undermine the festive mood” at the tournament on the eve of the new year “abusing this additional flexibility”.

In a social media post on Sunday, Carlsen said: “Oh, tomorrow I’m definitely playing in jeans.”

Fide had previously said its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure fairness and professionalism for all participants”.

Carlsen is a high-profile figure in chess who has attracted some controversy in recent years.

The Norwegian became a grandmaster – the highest title in chess – at the age of 13, and has long been considered a maverick in the chess world.

In 2023, he settled a long-running legal dispute after accusing an American rival of cheating.

Carlsen made the accusation after he was unexpectedly beaten by 19-year-old chess prodigy Hans Niemann in a 2022 match.

Niemann denied the allegations and filed a $100m (£79m) defamation lawsuit against Carlsen, the website Chess.com and another US grandmaster.

Last August, Chess.com reported the suit had been settled out of courtand that Carlsen now accepted Niemann had not deceived.