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 pulled out of 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 playing while wearing jeans.
The International Chess Federation (Fide) later said it would relax its dress code to allow “elegant minor deviations” from the official list of acceptable attire.
The 34-year-old has since said he will return to competition on Monday and will continue to wear jeans when playing.
Carlsen, a five-time chess champion, was fined $200 (£159) last week for breaking the tournament's dress code.
He said he wore jeans to a lunch date and “didn't even think” to change into another pair of pants when he headed into the tournament.
He had already played several rounds in a shirt, blazer and jeans when he was told he had broken the dress code.
The Grandmaster said he offered to change his pants for the next day, but was told he had to change immediately, which he refused to do.
Carlsen then withdrew from the race and said he would be leaving town.
“No one wants to back down… I'll probably go somewhere where the weather is a little nicer than here,” he said.
Announcing the changes to its dress code on Sunday, Fide president Arkady Dvorkovich said: “The principle is simple: the official dress code is still required to be followed, but elegant minor deviations (which may notably include well-fitting jeans matched with a jacket) are permitted.”
He said tournament staff would be required to help assess whether outfits comply with the relaxed code, adding that he hoped players would not “undermine the festive spirit” of the tournament on New Year's Eve by “abusing this extra flexibility”. .
In a social media post on Sunday, Carlsen said: “Oh, I'm definitely going to play in jeans tomorrow.”
Fide previously said the dress code rules were designed to “ensure fairness and professionalism for all participants”.
Carlsen is a high-profile 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 fraud in the chess world.
In 2023 he settled a long-running lawsuit after accusing an American rival of fraud.
Carlsen made the accusation after he was unexpectedly defeated by 19-year-old chess prodigy Hans Niemann in a match in 2022.
Niemann denied the allegations and filed a $100m (£79m) defamation suit against Carlsen, the website Chess.com and another US grandmaster.
Last August, Chess.com said the case was settled out of courtand that Carlsen now accepted that Niemann had not cheated.