Magnus Carlsen, the World No 1 chess grandmaster, has always been in the spotlight for his extraordinary skill on the chessboard, but recently, his jeans made headlines for an entirely different reason.

The infamous size-32 regular-fit Corneliani jeans, which sparked a major standoff between Carlsen and the global chess governing body, FIDE, were sold at auction for a staggering Rs 31 lakh ($36,100) after attracting 94 bids on eBay.

The proceeds from the sale are set to benefit the Big Brothers Big Sisters charity, a cause close to Carlsen's heart.

The story behind is about when Carlsen attended the FIDE World Rapid Championship. Carlsen had arrived for the tournament wearing the Corneliani jeans, but was fined by the chief arbiter for not adhering to the dress code, which prompted the grandmaster to quit the event midway.

While Carlsen had agreed to change into more appropriate attire for the following day's play, the chief arbiter insisted that the jeans be swapped out immediately. Frustrated by the situation, Carlsen left the tournament, only to be coaxed back for the FIDE World Blitz Championship shortly after.

In the aftermath, Carlsen dubbed the jeans "Chess Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen’s #JeansGate Jeans" when he decided to auction them off.

Carlsen made light of the situation in his social media posts, stating, “The forbidden jeans – can now be yours. I am auctioning my jeans. A sentence I never thought I would write. But here we are.”

While the actual value of the jeans is only between $300 and $500, the auction attracted significant interest, and the final bid skyrocketed to over $36,000. This hefty sum is a testament not only to the unique story behind the jeans but also to Carlsen's immense fame and the curiosity surrounding his brief clash with FIDE. The buyer, who chose to remain anonymous, now owns a piece of chess history – and a pair of jeans that stirred a global conversation.