Magnus Carlsen to REJOIN chess tournament following jeans row as organisers perform shock U-turn after champion was booted out of competition

World No 1 chess player Magnus Carlsen has revealed he will return to a major tournament after organisers announced they would relax dress code rules.

The Norwegian was defending his World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York on Friday when governing body FIDE told him he could not continue whilst wearing jeans.

He said he offered to change his trousers for the following day before being fined and told he needed to change straight away.

After significant backlash, FIDE have now announced that they will relax its dress code to allow for ‘elegant minor deviations’ of its official list of acceptable attire.

As a result, Carlsen has said he will return to the tournament on Monday but insisted he will continue to wear jeans as a matter of principle.

‘To make a long story short: I’ll be playing at least one more day here in New York,’ Carlsen said in an interview with the YouTube channel for the Take Take Take app. ‘If I do well, another day after that.’

Carlsen quit the tournament on Friday after being told he could not continue whilst wearing jeans

He added: ‘As a principle, I will definitely play in jeans tomorrow.’

Following the incident the 34-year-old revealed that he had spoken to FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich.

‘Speaking to Dvorkovich and the main sponsor Turlov, it did feel we could have some fruitful discussions and in the end of the day I decided to play,’ he continued.

‘In addition, I love playing blitz chess. I want to give the fans the chance to see me play it. It could be the last time, who knows.’

On Friday, he pulled out of the championships with the chess governing body issuing Carlsen a $200 (£158) fine after giving him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the rejected. 

However, after being told he would not be allowed to continue, he reportedly responded ‘I’m out, f*** you’.

Carlsen, world champion between 2013 and 2023, said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly. 

‘I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like I didn’t even think about jeans, even changed my shoes,’ Carlsen told Take Take Take, an app for following chess.

However, following ‘fruitful’ discussions between Carlsen and FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich the governing body agreed to relax its dress code

Carlsen is widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players of all time and has won 64 major titles

‘I didn’t even think about it. First of all, I got a fine which is fine, and then I got a warning that I would not be paired if I didn’t go change my clothes. They said that I could do it after the third round today.’

The Norwegian grandmaster is the most high-profile name in chess, having won 64 major titles in the sport since emerging as a prodigious talent in the early 2000s.

In addition to chess, the Norwegian has also taken his talents into the world of fantasy football.

Mid-way through the 2019/20 Premier League campaign Carlsen climbed to first place on the league’s official fantasy table, putting him top of a list of more than 7 million players.