Chess grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has resigned from the St. Louis Chess Club after he was accused of sexual assault by a women’s chess champion. “It is clear the investigations into allegations of inappropriate behavior have proven to be a negative distraction for the Club,” Ramirez wrote in a letter to the club, obtained in a press release sent to the Daily Beast. Ramirez has effectively resigned his role as coach of the Saint Louis University Chess team in doing so. Last month, women’s chess champion Jennifer Shahade revealed on Twitter that she’d reported the alleged assault to U.S. Chess and the St. Louis Chess Club, writing that Ramirez assaulted her twice. She said she later learned of more alleged victims, including minors, leading her to speak out as she advocates for a safer environment for women and girls. Ramirez’s lawyer, Albert S. Watkins, slammed the accusations as “unsubstantiated.” “Superimposing today’s mores on erroneous recitals of acts of yesteryear is a recipe for disaster for both the accused and the accuser,” he said in the release.
