A Canadian chess Grand Master was banned from playing in the 2017 world cup round 5 held in Tblisi for wearing shorts. He quit the tournament. Canadians have attacked the tournament organizer for enforcing a dress code and for saying that the player "looked like a gypsy.''
Everyone wants to call people racist these days. Not everyone can be an adult punk in the business world though. Punk is of course a popular sub-culture yet that is another story.
Everyone wants to call people racist these days. Not everyone can be an adult punk in the business world though. Punk is of course a popular sub-culture yet that is another story.
For a certain older generation looking like a gypsy means to look like a free wandering traveler, perhaps a little shady, yet not particularly of a genomic group. Bill Clinton is the sort of fellow that if wearing too casual of clothes it could be said that he 'looked like a gypsy' without racism. A drill Sgt. once said to us; 'Don't look like Joe Shit the Rag man or I will hunt you down.' He was talking about strings hanging off the battle dress uniform and pants unbloused etc.
Unfortunately there is discrimination against homeless people in the world. Canadians of course might be expected to wear a Molsons T-Shirt, dirty Levis and manure-caked boots yet that might not be attire especially suitable for a world cup chess event. Obviously, FIDE should provide disposable jump-suit tuxedos made of paper to players that show up badly attired. Keeping a box of disposable paper jump suits would be a trivial expense. If the bib-tux is not right for FIDE style, perhaps a disposable paper thobe- a white Arabian robe, would work.
In the business world (the people with the money), looking like a gypsy is also another way of saying looking unemployed, disheveled and not caring about one's appearance. There is an active bias against people that don't work for a living. They like to see white clothes that look washed. They don't want dope smoking employees or to have bedbugs or fleas in their facilities.
Pro chess players may work for a living yet not as laborers certainly. While working at a Taco Bell in Houston long ago a black manager who was an immigrant from Haiti actually pulled up my pants leg to see if I was wearing clean white socks! Luckily I was. People outside the first world care about appearances more than the comfortably cinched from northern countries. They don't want people to wear smelly clothing that could offend an owner or customer . Someone from a former communist country like Ukraine may not understand the business bias against the unemployed. I think they gave him a pass the first two days wearing those shorts, yet on day three they pulled the trigger, Maybe clothes should be washed every week at world cup events.
Chess players are maybe flaky a little at the top with eccentricity and over-touchiness (Bobby Fischer). Maybe they should look at Magnus Carlsen and Bu for examples of casual yet clean.
