Anton Kovyalov

I understand he likes shorts, but is it more important than the world cup?

Anton Kovalyov:

“I wanted to wait a little till I calm down, but I’m tired of seeing lies everywhere. So here’s what happened:

The issue were not the shorts but how I was treated. I came to the game and was approached by the arbiter asking me to change (first time). I told him that I don’t have pants with me, and then I noticed that I was playing black instead of white, which came as a surprise for me and asked him to check that. He and the other arbiters checked and confirmed to me that I’m playing with black, we talked a little and everything was fine.

Then came Zurab, he was very agressive, yelling at me and using the racial slur “gypsy” to insult me, apart from mentioning several times that I will be punished by FIDE. I told him that I had asked before at the previous world cup if what I was wearing was OK and I was told by somebody from the organization that yes. Zurab, in a prepotent way, said he doesn’t care, he’s the organizer now. At this point I was really angry but tried not to do anything stupid, and asked him why he was so rude to me, and he said because I’m a gypsy.

So imagine this, the round is about to start, I’m being bullied by the organizer of the tournament, being assured that I will be punished by FIDE, yelled at and racially insulted. What would you do in my situation? I think many people would have punched this person in the face or at least insulted him. I decided to leave.

Worth pointing out, I didn’t take any pants with me because I gained some weight and they were to tight. If the organization of the tournament would have warned me sooner I would have taken a cab to the mall and bought pants, without any problems whatsoever, but instead I was treated like garbage. I was too stressed out by the way I was treated and the threats of being punished by FIDE no matter what I do, so I choose to leave before I do anything stupid.

Another point worth pointing out, Zurab never asked me to go and change, the conversation consisted of threats, insults, and agressive behavior from Zurab. He was clearly provoking me.

I will not appeal anything. I am disgusted by this type of people. I don’t want the money. I’m coming back home.”

Source: https://chessdailynews.com/official-statement-from-gm-anton-kovalyov-about-world-cup-incident/

As some people on Twitter have commented, Anand must be furious right now.

Why should he be furious? I'm sure if the shorts had bothered him he would have said something. Kovyalov played the better chess that day, so it's all fair.

P.S: If it's a joke, then   Humour is often difficult to convey over the internet...

Someday I will play a tournament game in my XXL leather codpiece. 

There is zero reason for a TD to use racial slur like "gypsy" to a participant. 

And if there was, it certainly wouldn't be over his shorts.

Hell, I've seen Magnus wear shorts to a tournament.

Antyon needs to contact FIDE with this information, if he has not already, and have Ziryab blackballed. 

Should've just said, Eat my shorts.

Zurab was the guy who head-butted the Olympiad security.  So throwing a punch would not have been a good idea ...

 Shorts are pretty much standard attire in most Western countries during warm weather as long as they are not old, ragged, smelly, stained, etc... I have seen pictures of many high class people wearing them, including the British Royal family and the Kennedy family. Plus the FIDE rules do even mention not wearing shorts per say. This is how you should not dress:

Correction: The FIDE rules do NOT even mention not wearing shorts per say.

How can I vote you president of the world???

Even if "gypsy" hadnt been intended as a racial slur, it sure as hell wasnt meant as a compliment.

I don't need love, I don't need romance

I just wanna eat your underpants

Zurab on a power trip being a belligerent and obnoxious asshole. At the very most he could have asked him politely to wear a pair of pants for the next game, instead of hurling obscenities at him aggressively right before one of the biggest matches Anton has ever played. 

The world isn't ready for me yet.  They can't handle the naked truth.  Or a naked bunny ...

U are wearing Bermudas 👖 right now, aren't u😆

The organizer was out of line but Kovalyov was being a crybaby by quitting.  He should have just sucked it up, changed, played the game, and then formally protested.  His opponent might have been sympathetic and allowed a quick draw, which were plentiful today (although Kovalyov was black)