Carlsen will return to the ranks of chess champions after the jeans dispute is resolved

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

Carlsen left 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 to play while wearing jeans.

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

The 34-year-old has since said he will return to action on Monday and will continue to wear jeans during the game.

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

He said he was wearing jeans to a lunch meeting and “didn’t even think about” changing them for another pair of pants as he headed to the tournament.

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

The Grandmaster said he offered to change his pants the next day, but was told he needed to change immediately, which he refused.

Carlsen then withdrew from the competition and announced that he would leave the city.

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

Announcing the dress code changes on Sunday, Fide president Arkady Dvorkovic said: “The principle is simple: the official dress code is still required, but minor deviations (which may include, in particular, matching jeans to match the jacket) are elegant.” allowed.”

He said tournament staff would be required to help judge whether outfits comply with the relaxed code, adding that he hoped players would not “undermine the festive spirit” at the tournament on New Year’s Eve by “abusing this extra flexibility”.

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

Fide previously said the dress code rules were designed to “ensure fairness and professionalism for all participants”.

Carlsen is a famous chess figure who has caused 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 personality in the chess world.

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

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

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

Last August, Chess.com reported the lawsuit was settled out of courtand that Carlsen now accepted Niemann did not deceive.