‘It was a little bit of a farce’: Magnus Carlsen recollects notorious jeansgate controversy forward of Las Vegas problem

Magnus Carlsen has opened up concerning the notorious jeansgate controversy, calling it a “little bit of a farce” as he prepares for his subsequent large problem in Las Vegas. The Norwegian grandmaster spoke to The Athletic concerning the incident that noticed him disqualified from the 2024 World Fast and Blitz Championships in New York for carrying denims.

“Actually, I simply forgot to vary my denims after a gathering earlier than the sport,” Carlsen stated. “I placed on a pleasant shirt and jacket, and once they advised me I shouldn’t be carrying denims, I assumed, ‘Nicely, yeah, sorry, I simply forgot to vary.’”

He felt the demand to vary garments mid-event was pointless. “I assumed asking me to vary in between video games when my apparel was completely cheap was most likely not fairly wanted, however that’s OK,” he added.

Carlsen calls the entire saga a joke

Carlsen additionally described how ridiculous the entire scenario turned. “It was a little bit of a farce contemplating how they had been really inspecting folks’s trousers to see in the event that they had been denims or chinos or no matter. That simply tells you ways foolish the entire thing was.”

Carlsen identified that it was a 200-player match with folks from very completely different monetary backgrounds. “The principle truth was they needed gamers to be presentable at this match, regardless that it’s a 200-player match and folks come from quite a lot of completely different monetary backgrounds. I positively met the usual of good informal. To disqualify me over that was so silly,” he stated.

“I nonetheless am considerably shocked at it, however no, it was not deliberate greater than to the extent I realised there could be penalties if I didn’t change, however I didn’t actually consider it. I by no means needed to be an advocate for denims, however there we’re,” Carlsen admitted.

The five-time world chess champion will subsequent be seen in motion on the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam occasion in Las Vegas, which has a prize cash of $750,000. Carlsen received the final two legs of Freestyle Chess in Paris and Grenke. He additionally received the Norway Chess 2025 just lately and might be excessive on confidence.