On 30 December 2024, the headline in Kotaku reads, “Champion Magnus Carlsen Rocked The Chess World By Refusing to Take Off His Jeans”. In today’s episode of the Daily Monsoon, we will take a close look at the bad boy of the chess world.

For those of you who are not up to date on fashion trends among the pawn-movers of the world, the event is the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championship held in New York. FIDE is the organiser. FIDE is a French abbreviation for the organisation that would be “The World Chess Federation” in English. Magnus Carlsen is a five-time world chess champion.

He showed up for his match wearing jeans. FIDE has a dress code. Magnus refused to change. FIDE refused to budge. Then Magnus threatened to withdraw from the tournament.

Chess fans said no one cares if the chess grandmasters played in their underwear. That’s probably what they wear anyway when they play tournaments online.

FIDE gave in. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich announced that the dress code policy will be loosened for this tournament.

Does that sound like special treatment to you? Would FIDE have done so if the player was not Magnus Carlsen. People come to see Magnus play. Some hope that this time, someone would knock the crown off his big head.

So, Magnus gets his way. He comes back on Monday for round 1 against Michael Bezold, a German grandmaster. Magnus arrives one minute and 11 seconds late for his three-minute game. Magnus wins. This is not the first. Magnus likes to show up late for his games.

I quote the Hindustan Times report of this:

“It feels good to be back,” Carlsen told the presenter after his win when asked if he was wearing a new pair of jeans. “Yes, a new one. I got them just for the game today, which is one of the reasons why I was late…”

Magnus continues winning matches and arrives at the final against, I hope I don’t pronounce this too wrongly, Ian Nepomniachtchi. Magnus wins the first two games. He only needs a draw in the third game to win the title. Ian makes a comeback and wins the third and fourth games. So now they are both equal and either player needs another win to win the tournament. They play the fifth game. It’s a draw. The sixth game, another draw. Then the seventh, and again another draw.

So they have now played seven games and Magnus does the unthinkable. He leans forward and asks, “Do you want to share the title?”

Ian says, “Yes.”

And against all precedent, Magnus and Ian are now co-champions of the blitz tournament.

Once again, Magnus up ends the chess world.

If this was Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Gaza, we want both sides to shake hands and make peace.

But this is chess, we came to see a fight to the finish, we want a winner.

Personally, I think Magnus got a better deal. He was all ready to forfeit the title for his pants, so we all know he doesn’t care for the tournament. Now he gets a draw and maintains his title.

For Ian, oh man, he had the opportunity to knock down Magnus. Which sounds better to you, “I am world number one… together with Magnus Carlsen” or, “I beat Magnus. I am the guy who beat Magnus Carlsen for the title”?

Now, I want to tell you what I think about Magnus Carlsen and his stunts.

Magnus does not display good sportsmanship. He doesn’t follow the written rules of the tournament, he expects the rules to be changed for him, he is late for matches, which is disrespectful to his opponents, and he lazily goes for a draw when he should respect the game and fight for the title.

His bad-boy behaviour is not good for chess. Maybe there is a reason for his antics beyond getting the clicks and self-promotion. Maybe there is a power-play between FIDE and Magnus. Some have even accused Magnus and Ian of fixing the finals. I am not going to speculate on that.

Call me old fashioned but chess used to have a reputation as a gentleman’s sport. Players sit across from one another. They play. When the game ends, the loser congratulates the winner. They both shake each other’s hands and, in that snapshot, show the rest of the world what it means to be civilised.

I know, I know. There have always been players who have been less than gentlemanly and are far more brutish and attention-seeking than Magnus on his worst day. Sure, but I fear this type of behaviour is not acceptable by the rest of us.

The Kingsman movies were incomplete because true gentlemen play chess.

Parents and teachers used to encourage children to play chess because it teaches children to play according to the rules, think two steps ahead, learn from others and display good sportsmanship.

But look at chess today. Breaking tournament rules, disrespecting opponents and taking the tournament as a joke.

As a character on a stage, I think Magnus is fun to watch. But as the standard bearer for the game, he is a terrible role model.

Let’s go back to the jeans controversy that became such a big deal. Is it pretentious to have a dress code in this day and age? Maybe. But is it so hard for players to abide with a tournament’s dress code?

Is it too much to ask for a chess tournament to have a little bit of class. Or are we okay for players to show up in T-shirts, slippers and shorts?

According to the news, Magnus is getting married this weekend. Congratulations to the king of chess. You finally have a queen to keep you in check.

Consider, on his wedding day, would he wear jeans if the agreed dress code was formal? I know there are weddings where the groom shows up in T-shirts, shorts and slippers and maybe I will have to eat my words when Magnus shows up for his wedding wearing exactly that. But to me, there is a time and place for everything, and we should respect the rules.

When I was studying in the UK, I was shocked that the British would wear their shoes inside their houses. This never happens back home. Shoes are dirty. They belong outside.

If I had a guest coming over, and the man insisted to wear shoes inside my house. I would say, “No!” He could insist. Give many reasons. Call me unreasonable. It doesn’t matter. My house. My rules. The choice to him is whether he takes off his shoes to come in, or leave.

One has to understand that we don’t always get our way. Even when we sometimes don’t understand the reason why, we have to understand our place and act accordingly.

Just as your house and my house have rules, so in God’s house he has his own rules. When we knock on the door to enter heaven, God has his own condition for us to enter heaven. We must wear a robe. A specific robe. A robe of righteousness. Perfect and unsullied.

And the only way, we can get this robe of righteousness is to put our faith in Jesus. He is the one who puts on us his robe of righteousness.

That’s the dress code. And it cannot be changed. You are not the star of the show. You can’t call the president and tell him who you are. In fact, think about this, the owner of the house doesn’t even need to explain himself to you.

Society breaks down when people no longer have respect for law and order. When they think they can always have their own way. Chess, this 8×8 square board game with 32 pieces and fixed rules, reminds us that reality is based on God’s physical, moral and spiritual law. And the law applies to everyone.

When the ultimate gentleman’s game descends into chaos, when school kids emulate their heroes and think it’s fun to trash talk their opponents, and show up late for games, and make fun of tournament organisers, and the rest of society applauds them for bad behaviour, I wonder whether this is the opening to the decline of civilisation.

This is the Daily Monsoon where I reflect on the news of the day and connect it to matters of faith. Thank you for listening. Bye bye.