US Chess Statement on Misconduct Allegations

In the March 7, 2023 edition of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), an article was published detailing disturbing allegations made by eight women from the chess community against Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez. The United States Chess Federation (US Chess) is committed to protecting the safety of its members and their right to be treated with respect. As part of that commitment, US Chess adopted the Safe Play Guidelines in 2019.

While the allegations in the article are deeply concerning and will be evaluated as part of US Chess’ ongoing investigation into this matter, we feel it is important to clarify several points. First, Mr. Ramirez is not employed by US Chess. Second, US Chess has no record of any reported allegations regarding Mr. Ramirez’s conduct prior to 2020. In 2020, when US Chess learned of allegations regarding Mr. Ramirez’s conduct in years prior, it stopped engaging Mr. Ramirez in any capacity where he would come into contact with minors. Additionally, other than submitting freelance articles and appearing on a podcast, Mr. Ramirez has had no meaningful engagement with US Chess since the allegations were made to US Chess in 2020. Third, Mr. Ramirez was selected as the coach of the 2022 Women’s Olympiad Team; however, as is standard practice for our Olympiad teams, that decision was made by the team independently of US Chess.

US Chess’s investigation of the two formal complaints received in September 2022 regarding Mr. Ramirez’s conduct is ongoing. US Chess strongly respects the right of alleged victims to control when and to whom they tell their story. However, because US Chess did not receive complaints from, or sufficient information regarding, the allegations of the other women referenced in the WSJ article, we have not had the opportunity to investigate and consider those additional allegations. That process is underway.

In the meantime, Mr. Ramirez’s US Chess membership has been suspended.

Further, we encourage any victim or other persons with information relevant to this investigation to contact US Chess by emailing Click here to show email address or by submitting a complaint via the Safe Play Misconduct Report Form. Information received as part of this process will be kept confidential to the maximum extent possible.