ChessMatrix: LIGHTS! CAMERA! AUCTION!!!
Welcome back to the ChessMatrix! Today... we've got something unexpected.
AN AUCTION!
On December 28th, 2024, the unprecedented happened: Magnus Carlsen, 16th World Chess Champion, and champion of Classical, Rapid, AND Blitz, was kicked from the World Rapid Chess Championship. The issue at hand was the trousers he had donned: a pair of jeans that would rock the chess world to its core.
FIDE had asked Carlsen to change the jeans to something more formal before the next round, and after Carlsen said he would change the next day, FIDE booted him from the event, marking the first occasion of its kind. Ian Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen's co-champion (more on that later) in the blitz, was fined for breach of dress code for wearing athletic shoes. Ian later changed into the required articles of clothing.
Carlsen originally planned to skip the World Blitz CC but resumed anyway and was allowed to wear "more appropriate jeans". After reaching the finals, he battled Nepomniachtchi for the title of World Blitz Champion, but after multiple draws Carlsen suggested that he and Nepomniachtchi share the title, and FIDE makes another never-before-seen decision: a shared world championship title.
The controversial jeans have now gone to auction on Ebay, an e-commerce website. You can find them here. The Corneliani jeans come with a certificate of authenticity. 810 people have it on their watchlists and proceeds go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The auction ends on the 1st of March, 2025, so if you want to want to walk in Magnus's jeans, place your bid now! 
UPDATE: With 94 bids placed the jeans have sold for a whopping $36,100 USD! Congratulations to the winner of these historic trousers.
See you next time!
Leafy
