Delega told
Chess.com that he hadn't noticed that Kovalyov was also wearing the same shorts in his four games before today's round—two against Varuzhan Akobian, and two against Vishy Anand.
"I saw it today and decided to talk to him about it," said Delega. "He said he did not have other pants with him and that he had worn the same in the previous World Cup, but then he started protesting about the wrong color."
Delega did not have time to discuss the dress code further with Kovalyov. He told
Chess.com that he wasn't planning to punish him right away. "It was not my intention to deny the player from playing today."
Clearly the Arbiters were negligent the 1st two rounds by not taking notice of the shorts.
Clearly Kovalyov had better options than making his lame protests which became an easy excuse to leave the event.
It is also quite clear to many, that his "appearance" for a world class event at an upscale Hotel was not representative. That is a subjective issue of course.
1st it was he'd gained weight, no pants that fit. Then it was he was told it was OK. Then it became, Oh, that was 2 years ago at the last WC he was told that. Then it became the pairing colors were wrong. Then it becomes a personal issue of being the victim of discrimination.
I wish all the best for the young gentleman, but he needs to grow up and realize the world is not always fair. Nothing ever gets solved by quitting.
People go to work everyday being in an unhappy situation. They can't suddenly up and quit for no reason. Eventually they find a reason, place themselves in a contrived situation and have a built in excuse to finally walk out the door. This may have happened here. It's hard to imagine someone throwing in the towel in such a prestigious event over a pair of shorts.