GM Alejandro Ramirez accused of sexual misconduct and assault by eight women
Alejandro Ramirez is a 34-years old Costa Rican-American grandmaster, coach and commentator and was recently accused by eight women of sexually assaulting them in an article published by The Wall Street Journal.
It all started when WGM Jennifer Shade (two-time United States women’s champion, author and commentator, who worked alongside Ramirez for many years) tweeted on the 15th of February claiming that she has been sexually assaulted by Ramirez twice and that she also saw alarming evidence from the other victims.
A day after Jennifer’s tweet was Ramirez removed from coaching Saint Louis University’s chess team and as well from the FIDE Athletes Commission by the decision of the FIDE Council.
After this, Ramirez told Chess.com: “Although I cannot comment on the specifics of Ms Shahade’s assertions due to pending investigations by the US Chess Federation and the St. Louis Chess Club, I understand the concern raised by the allegations levied against me. I am fully cooperating with both inquiries and look forward to the opportunity to respond to these charges and share my side of the story.“
In a few days, Jennifer tweeted again about more victims contacting her after the first tweet:
Three weeks later, The Wall Street Journal published an article, in which they spoke with eight women, who were talking about similar stories of Ramirez being physically aggressive as he forcibly kissed and groped them without their consent. Three of the women were underage and also accused Ramirez of providing them with alcohol.
Claire Grothe told her experience with Ramirez on the record. Claire was working as a program manager at the World Chess Hall of Fame in Saint Louis, located across the street from the Saint Louis Chess Club. She met Ramirez in 2014 at a reception which was organised by the club. After the reception, she went to an after-party at a nearby Italian bar, where she found herself in conversation with Ramirez toward the back by the restroom.
That’s when she says that Mr Ramirez grabbed her by the arm, pulled her into the restroom and pushed her up against a wall, where he forcibly kissed her and reached into her halter-neck dress to grope her breast. Ms Grothe said she was able to push him off and leave.
On the next day, Ramirez showed up at her desk at the Hall of Fame and asked her out on a date. Because of the incident with Ramirez, Claire left her job at the Chess Hall of Fame later that year.
Seven more women spoke to The Wall Street Journal anonymously and provided many more stories in which Ramirez assaulted them.
According to The Wall Street Journal’s research, the allegations about Ramirez have been known to several chess bodies, including the abuse of a 15-year-old. They still awarded Ramirez the job of the coach for the U.S. women’s team at the World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India, in 2022.
Ramirez resigned from the Saint Louis Chess Club. In a statement, he acknowledged that his continued affiliation with the club was “not presently in the best interests of the Club.” His resignation came two days after being presented with a detailed list of the allegations against him by The Wall Street Journal.
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