“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.
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“I said: ‘I’ll change tomorrow if that’s OK, I didn’t even realise it today’, but they said: ‘Well you have to change now.’ At that point, it became a bit of a matter of principle for me.”
Carlsen said he would not appeal the decision, adding: “Honestly, I am too old at this point to care too much, if this is what they want to do.
“I guess it goes both ways, right – nobody wants to back down – and this is where we are.
“It’s fine by me. I’ll probably head off to somewhere where the weather is a bit nicer.”
Carlsen is a five-time world chess champion and retains the top ranking in the sport. The Norwegian became grandmaster – the top title in chess – at the age of 13.
In a now-settled dispute with opponent Hans Niemann, Carlsen quit a tournament in 2022 after Niemann beat him, before going on to accuse his American rival of cheating by using anal beads.
Niemann categorically denied allegations that he used a vibrating sex toy to receive outside instructions and even said he would “strip fully naked” to prove his innocence.
The pair went on to settle a $100 million (£79 million) lawsuit in August last year.
