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Comment by afro88 | Hacker News Reader

This is silly. Surely a GM knows the rules. You can't say the facts are he wasn't doing it in protest or wasn't trying to make a scene.

The facts are he violated the dress code rule and then withdrew when it was enforced. He then mentioned his FIDE alternative in the ensuing press coverage.

Edit: also, on paper, him attending a sponsor event and then violating a rule at the competition because he "didn't have time to change" speaks volumes about his priorities.

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The rules themselves are silly. Jeans get tagged as a violation but you can wear a jacket that looks as if it belongs in NASCAR (i.e. every square inch belongs to a sponsor) and that flies. Looking at pictures from the event, Magnus looked fine.

I find it weird to witness all the drama, pomp, and circumstance around the professional chess scene. It is a board game. I couldn't care less if they decided to play pool-side with swimming trunks and flip-flops.

Magnus' priorities are clearly that he's won everything up for grabs and plays for fun. He doesn't need to worry about money nor rules set by a sport federation stuck about half a century in the past. If only the rest of us were so free!

I didn't say it, but I agree the rules are silly. However, they are what they are.

What I was saying is that I think Magnus was protesting, and doing it as a publicity stunt. He didn't forget anything. He didn't expect to be given a pass.

And FIDE also weren't being dicks by enforcing the current rules.

Attending corporate sponsorship events sounds soul crushing for someone so free, not fun. His priority is keeping his sponsors happy as he tries to fire up his new thing.

Being a GM doesn’t automatically clarify vague rules. FIDE has some things saying it’s appropriate as long as there’s no holes, others that limit them. Really this comes down to the tournament rather than being a uniform rule to follow.

The arbiter didn’t clarify what was going on first saying it’s a 200$ fine which was meaningless to him, then latter saying you need to change or skip the next round.

What's "silly" is that such a dress code exists at all in 2024. What a bunch of uptight dorkwads.

Dress-codes can be about more than morality. In a game of intense concentration having distracting clothing could be a distraction. It’s not like every professional sport doesn’t have a dress code.

> It is important to promote a good and positive image of chess. Attire worn during all phases of the championships and events should be in good taste and appropriate to such a prestigious chess event.

That’s the “objective” according to https://www.fide.com/images/stories/NEWS_2013/FIDE/Proposal_....

And we'll see if FIDE will be seen as a preserver of traditional values or out of touch with the new generation of chess players.

The primary impression that most of the contemporary world has of FIDE is probably one of corruption and power games that are completely detached from the game of chess.

There are people who think that it can be reformed and there are people who don't think that FIDE can improve, but certainly no one argues that its past proves its commitment to professionalism.

I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to find a worse performing global sport federation.

That puts a different tone to their justification that the dress code is meant to promote professionalism and be a good representative for chess!

How do you spell FIFA?

Yes, there is a limit in both directions. We probably would agree with disqualification a playet he showed up completely nude.

You need to keep up with the times too.

Clean jeans are normal for “smart casual” now. And the dress code shouldn’t be so prescriptive. If you can pass as “smart casual” somewhere else, should be legal.

What a load of crap. If someone is distracted by a persons attire then they probably are going to be distracted by other players playing, people walking around, noise.

This is nothing more than a dumb outdated rule. He wore jeans. Not a fluorescent jump suit.

I love your approach to this. Perhaps his example will inspire this attitude becoming more prevalent in professional settings. I really hope so - it is definitely just as dumb as women have been saying it is for decades now.

In the case of Carlson that is true. Female players who wear low cut shirts stastically do much better against males than other females who dress more modest.

Source for this obviously bullshit claim?

Austin Powers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0OhiPwBff0

Yes, a resourceful chess player could gain an upper hand over any opponent who might have a jeans fetish. And we can't have that, can we.

We don’t know if someone complained to an official about Magnus’ pants. We don’t know who gained the most from this.

I can only assume everyone here is going off their own experience - "I don't know the dress code off the top of my head, so he must not as well".

I think Magnus is under a lot of slow-burn pressure. He's the best, but chess is a grindy game, it only takes one mistake to lose, everyone is watching him, there's nowhere to go but down, and he wants to have fun instead of practice his ass off.

A few tantrums might be a way of getting out of the competitive scene on his own terms.

Magnus left the competitive scene on his own terms years ago when he forfeited the world championship.

The rules are dumb. It's similar to the F1 situation where drivers are protesting the FIA.

Clothes has nothing to do to with chess.

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