Lichess resumes cooperation with Saint Louis Chess Club, but not with US Chess

Press release by Lichess

Lichess will resume cooperation with Saint Louis Chess Club after positive changes, but will maintain its boycott on the US Chess Federation

Following the public statement issued by the Saint Louis Chess Club (STLCC) in October 2023, and after our own independent investigation, Lichess has decided to lift our boycott on STLCC.

Lichess originally boycotted both STLCC and the US Chess Federation (US Chess) due to serious concerns about accountability at the organisations as described in detail in our original announcement on 10 August 2023. Following our announcement and findings, Chess.com also announced a boycott of STLCC. No other platforms boycotted US Chess.

While we will restore STLCC’s status on our platform, at this time we will not be lifting our boycott on US Chess.

Background

In 2023, WGM Jennifer Shahade went public with allegations of sexual violence she had directly experienced or other occurrences affecting other women, and which she had reported to both STLCC and US Chess. These allegations led to multiple women and girls coming forward with allegations of serious sexual abuse over several years by GM Alejandro Ramirez, who was employed by STLCC and often contracted or engaged by US Chess. This culminated in the resignation of Ramirez.

GM Timur Gareyev was also implicated in allegations of sexual assault around the same time, and both Ramirez and Gareyev have since been permanently banned by US Chess and are currently listed as “Non Federation” on the FIDE website.

Lichess publicly cut ties with both US Chess and STLCC in the aftermath and to date had not resumed collaboration with either organisation.

Saint Louis Chess Club (STLCC)

Several months after the Ramirez allegations became public, the Saint Louis Chess Club issued a statement taking responsibility for its failings and endeavoured to put policies and procedures in place to prevent similar events occurring in the future.

New Policy and Practice at Saint Louis Chess Club

Almost immediately following Shahade going public, STLCC updated their website to include a new policy on relationships and interactions with minors:

The integrity of Saint Louis Chess Club’s relationship with minor players is paramount to the Chess Club’s educational mission and success. All individuals employed by or working under the direction or authority of the Saint Louis Chess Club are expected and required to maintain appropriate boundaries and relationships with minors and are strictly prohibited from engaging in sexual misconduct, hazing and harassment.

After this, and employing a new legal team, STLCC stated a number of changes which they planned to make, originally set out in their October 2023 statement:

The Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to implementing enhanced practices that strengthen our existing guidelines and promote and ensure a safe environment for everyone. These practices include, but are not limited to:

• annual active bystander intervention, anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training for the Board of Directors, and all staff members;
• enhanced background checks for coaches and all staff having contact with minors;
• updated employee handbook to include:
  • Speak Up Policy detailing the importance of reporting concerns, whistleblower protections and anti-retaliation guidelines;
  • enhancements to Policy on Interactions with Minors, requiring comprehensive training and certification for all staff members and individuals associated with the Saint Louis Chess Club who work with minors, and including requiring a second adult present with minors and reporting requirements;
  • new Code of Conduct applying to all staff and Board of Directors;
• adoption of US Chess Federation’s Guidelines on Safe Play and Conduct;
• revised Code of Conduct for members, competitive players, resident Grandmasters and commentators;
• creation of a new HR Manager role for an individual – experienced in employee relations, responding to concerns and conducting investigations – who maintains a reporting line to the HR Committee of the Board of Directors;
• instituting an internal investigation policy and procedure, which includes regular reporting to the Board of Directors;
• monitoring by a new safety committee reporting to the Board of Directors – consisting of internal staff and external individuals – to review concerns raised and remedial actions, with a focus on protecting victims;
• implementation of a comprehensive reporting tool maintained by a third-party provider to assist all members, players, coaches, commentators, and anyone associated with the Saint Louis Chess Club, along with the public, in reporting concerns confidentially and anonymously if they so choose.

Since the publicly announced changes, Lichess has engaged directly with STLCC. We have spoken to a number of club volunteers and employees, including senior management. We have reviewed the club’s updated training materials and reporting mechanisms. We have also spoken to an independent member of the club’s newly formed safety committee.

We are satisfied that the club has implemented significant changes that represent substantial positive steps towards creating a safer environment, such as mandatory training on interactions with minors, clear reporting procedures, and a dedicated, independent point of contact for safety concerns.

Based on this, Lichess is lifting its previous restrictions regarding STLCC. We appreciate the club’s demonstrated commitment to addressing these important issues.

United States Chess Federation (US Chess)

Where STLCC provided Lichess with much transparency, the same cannot be said for US Chess.

Lichess has attempted to reach out to US Chess to discuss their May 2023 statement and implementation of changes, just as we had reached out to STLCC. Despite multiple emails, we did not secure a response or acknowledgement.

In principle, Lichess remains open to discuss what US Chess has said they’ve implemented, and we hope they could give us the level of transparency that STLCC has provided us with. However, there remain several factors which give us additional concern that US Chess may not have adopted change and reformed as openly as STLCC has.

One factor is that US Chess’s insurer, West Bend, is awaiting the outcome of Jennifer Shahade’s lawsuit against US Chess. West Bend is currently refusing to pay US Chess’s legal costs, and has filed a lawsuit against US Chess claiming that US Chess did not report Shahade’s allegations about Ramirez to the insurer in 2022 and that, prior to the insurance policy beginning in 2018, the organisation may have already been aware of information about Ramirez that might indicate that a future claim would be made under the policy.

Overall, we believe this highlights cavalier attitudes within the US Chess leadership team, with many of the members having remained the same throughout this time period.

In American Chess Magazine #37, Pete Tamburro authored an article presented as a defence of due process. Ultimately though, it reads as a sustained critique of the Shahade siblings, undermining WGM Jennifer Shahade’s claims of sexual misconduct against GM Alejandro Ramirez and casting doubt on her credibility.

The article tries to portray Shahade’s claims as less serious by focusing on formalities and pointing out that there weren’t any early formal complaints. All of these things subtly blame her, the victim, while ignoring the culture of fear, and silence, and victim blaming that often keeps survivors from speaking out.

WGM Jennifer Shahade vs US Chess

WGM Jennifer Shahade has been vocal in her criticism of how US Chess has handled her allegations, and the chess federation has strenuously contested her claims.

In July 2024, she filed a six-count legal complaint against US Chess alleging employer retaliation, sex discrimination and defamation. The filing received online coverage (law.com, chess.com). Shortly afterwards Shahade posted an update on X (formerly Twitter), stating:

“US Chess has thus far ignored my lawyers follow-ups on their own mediation offer. Instead US Chess engaged a global litigation employment firm to “remove” the case to federal court, spending time/money rather than addressing the issues. Meanwhile Tamburro’s personal blog has been taken down.”

Therefore, given these reasons, Lichess is continuing a boycott of US Chess indefinitely, until we have heard further from them and had an opportunity to investigate our concerns. This will impact tournaments run under the auspices of the US Chess directly, but not those which are merely US Chess rated and run by organisers and venues of good standing.

Conclusion

Chess organisations have a moral, if not also a legal, duty to protect the welfare of players, volunteers, and officials attending, participating in, officiating, or spectating at their events.

As governing bodies, tournament organisers, and employers, they should have policies in place to protect individuals from sexual harassment and abuse, and they should support and encourage whistleblowers rather than intimidating them. There should be clear safeguarding policies in place which are followed in practice and are able to be audited.

We can only hope that there will continue to be positive change in chess culture and attitudes with regards to predatory, sexist, and intimidating behaviour from some individuals, and very importantly, how that behaviour is dealt with by chess organisations.