India, Feb. 14 -- Magnus Carlsen suffered a defeat against Vincent Keymer in the semi-finals of the ongoing Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam held in Wangels, Germany. In the subsequent match for third place, the World No. 1 triumphed over Javokhir Sindarov, securing victory in the first game.

Although Carlsen managed to rebound with a win, he is likely to feel disheartened by the way he lost to Keymer. The German Grandmaster won the initial game and then succeeded in drawing the second game against Carlsen. The Weissenhaus event was anticipated to be a platform for Carlsen's dominance, given his vocal support for Freestyle Chess.

In a related note, Carlsen experienced a controversial episode in New York during the World Rapid and Blitz Championships at the end of 2024. During the Rapid tournament, he became embroiled in the so-called "jeansgate" scandal, as he appeared in a pair of jeans, which was against FIDE regulations. Following a fine and a request to change his attire, Carlsen indicated he would comply the following day. However, he was subsequently asked to leave and chose to withdraw from the tournament.

On the sidelines of the ongoing Grand Slam event, Carlsen's coach, Peter Heine Nielsen, shared a humorous anecdote regarding the jeansgate incident when interviewed by Der Spiegel. "The world championship always occurs around Christmas and New Year's Eve, so I was working from home in Lithuania. It was three in the morning when I noticed that Magnus was not advancing to the next round. It was too amusing. I woke my poor wife and said: Can you believe this? She quickly went back to sleep," he recounted.

Following the jeansgate scandal, Carlsen resumed competition at the Blitz Championship, where he once again found himself at the center of controversy during the final match, which he shared with Ian Nepomniachtchi. This final also led to both players facing match-fixing allegations from fans and fellow competitors, prompted by a viral video in which Carlsen was observed encouraging his opponent to agree to draw outcomes if FIDE did not acquiesce to their request to share the championship title.
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