FIDE’s dress code policy: Fines for ‘sloppy or unkempt appearances’ and wrinkled clothing; No tears or rips in attire; No t-shirts or sleeveless shirts

Carlsen has confirmed that he will play in their year’s World Rapid and Blitz, claiming he will sport “tighter jeans this time”.

Magnus Carlsen had exited the World Rapid Championships 2024 midway after being told he had violated the FIDE dress code for the event and was asked to change to formal trousers. (PHOTO: Magnus Carlsen X)

The regulations about shirts — unicoloured shirt (with minor deviations allowed, e.g. checkered or striped) — could also mean Levon Aronian, one of the most colourful presences in the playing hall with flashy shirts, might have to pull out plainer shirts.

AS chess legend Susan Polgar wrote on X: “FIDE just released the ‘strict’ dress code regulations for Qatar World Rapid and Blitz Championship. No offensive slogan shirts like ‘Chicken for KFC’ will be allowed. No ‘Aronian’ shirts will be allowed either from what I read but jeans are OK. Arbiters will be intensively trained to differentiate between non-distressed jeans and distressed jeans. But the real question is will ‘Co-Champions’ be allowed?”

The last part of Polgar’s tweet about co-champions was a reference to Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi sharing the FIDE World Blitz Championship last year.

FIDE’s directives noted that it would classify infringements into two categories: minor ones (those committed without specific intent) and major ones (demonstrating disregard for or denial of the dress code rules as a whole, or showing disrespect toward FIDE, the opponent, or their countries and national symbols).

FIDE said that “sloppy or unkempt appearance, wrinkled clothing, or other minor deviations from the standard” would be considered a minor infringement. For first time minor offences, the fine would be at least €300 (approximately Rs 30,000) for open events and €150 (approximately Rs 15,000) for women’s events. The fine could go up to a financial penalty of five per cent of the player’s total prize money earned in the two events. Any further infringements will result in exclusion from the pairings for the next round.

Major infringements include incidents like wearing shorts, beachwear, sleeveless shirts (for men), or clothing/footwear with offensive content or logos of prohibited sponsors like betting companies, alcohol, tobacco brands. Each infringement will result in a financial penalty of 10 per cent of the player’s total prize money earned in the two events, but not less than €1,000 (approximately Rs one lakh) for open events and €500 (approximately Rs 50,000) for women’s events.

FIDE also mentioned in the directive that clothes and shoes shall be neat and free of offensive slogans, tears, or rips. No players with t-shirts, shorts, baseball caps or inappropriate dress are allowed in the playing venue.

Here’s the list of clothes for the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship:

Clothing allowed for men: Suit; ⁠Dark business casual trousers, including classic, non-distressed jeans (blue, black, and grey); Unicoloured shirt (with minor deviations allowed, e.g. checkered or striped); Dress shoes and loafers with closed toes; ⁠Unicoloured sneakers (soles can be a different colour)

Clothing allowed for women: Skirt suit, pantsuit, dress suit; Dress; Dark business casual trousers, including classic, non-distressed jeans (dark blue, black and grey); Shirt/blouse; ⁠Dress shoes and loafers; ⁠Unicoloured sneakers (soles can be a different colour).

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