WGM Jennifer Shahade says she was greeted with “hostility as an alternative of assist” and “consistently minimized or ignored” by US Chess when she got here ahead with allegations of sexual assault. The previous U.S. Ladies’s Chess Champion resigned because the Director of the US Chess Ladies’s Program on Monday.

Shahade had her final day because the Ladies’s Program Director of US Chess on Wednesday, a place she has had since 2018. She has labored for the federation since 2006 when she was employed as a Internet Editor and later promoted to Senior Digital Editor.

“Based mostly on what I’ve seen, I can not at the moment lend my credibility to the group in good conscience. That is very true since I’ve change into a de facto confidante for thus many ladies and ladies—making it important for me to place confidence in government decision-making and communication,” Shahade mentioned in a put up titled “I Am Leaving US Chess” revealed on social media on Monday.

I’ve left US Chess and can not function director of US Chess Ladies, a program I began 4 years in the past.

Resignation letter on why I can not in good conscience lend my credibility to the org anymore. https://t.co/SUwQTAGEmH

— Jennifer Shahade (@JenShahade) September 5, 2023

The outspoken and influential two-time U.S. Ladies’s Chess Champion, chess commentator, creator, poker participant, and founding father of the non-profit group 9 Queens, despatched shockwaves via the chess world in February when she in a sequence of tweets alleged that GM Alejandro Ramirez sexually assaulted her twice.

The allegations led to a bombshell report by The Wall Road Journal that exposed how the grandmaster had change into “bodily aggressive as he forcibly kissed and groped” girls with out their consent. Three of them had been underneath the age of 18, in accordance with the newspaper. Ramirez resigned from his place as a commentator and coach on the St. Louis Chess Membership and is now suspended by US Chess.

The Wall Road Journal corroborated Shahade’s declare that she and others’ allegations about Ramirez had been reported to US Chess, and the Saint Louis Chess Membership, however went unaddressed for years. The group ignored repeated warnings that the grandmaster had allegedly abused a 15-year-old and herself, and nonetheless despatched him to work as a coach on the Ladies’s Olympiad—an occasion with a whole bunch of minors, Shahade mentioned.

“With the reality out, I used to be hopeful, maybe naively so, that I may assist reset the items and forge a greater future inside US Chess, particularly for our ladies and kids,” she says in her resignation letter, the place she additionally talks about what she calls an intimidating letter from a lawyer representing US Chess.

As an alternative of assist, I used to be greeted with hostility. My tweet—the one which lastly instigated penalties—was criticized by US Chess. A lawyer representing the group instructed me to be “conscious” that talking up may violate coverage and “jeopardize” US Chess’s course of. From the Ladies’s Olympiad coach choice to the day I resigned, my recommendation and accomplishments had been constantly minimized or ignored.

Shahade tells Chess.com that she was shocked by how US Chess dealt with her tweets so negatively. “Particularly because it resulted in so many extra victims coming ahead, which received us nearer to the reality so shortly.”

US Chess refused to touch upon Shahade’s claims for Chess.com, however as an alternative factors to a assertion on their official web site.

US Chess needs Shahade one of the best as she seeks new alternatives, and we’re grateful to her for her work constructing what was then a brand-new programmatic space for us. Govt Director Carol Meyer says, “Thanks to Jennifer for her many contributions to the US Chess Ladies’s Program and for her years within the Communications Division. We at US Chess want her nicely in her subsequent skilled chapter.”

Randy Bauer, President of the US Chess Federation, made some further feedback in a thread on X/Twitter the place he responded to the intimidation declare.

I like Jennifer – we’ve by no means had something however (many) cordial conversations. I might not condone a US Chess legal professional searching for to intimidate her. I do discover the ‘male misogyny’ message odd, given the US Chess investigating legal professional and its Govt Director are girls.

— Randy Bauer (@RandyBauer) September 5, 2023

On requires US Chess to extra totally examine allegations of abuse, Bauer writes:

US Chess will not be a legislation enforcement company or a court docket, and its jurisdiction is restricted to its tournaments, occasions, or personnel. Additionally restricted by excessive passage of time. Maybe your buddy ought to pursue civil or felony actions.

— Randy Bauer (@RandyBauer) September 6, 2023

Shahade indicators off the letter by expressing her “deepest admiration to the Jane Doe’s who stepped up and broke the silence, to make the sport safer for the subsequent era. To any survivors studying this put up, whether or not you’ve spoken up or not: know that to me, you’re the vital one.”

Requested by Chess.com if she is looking forward to the long run regardless of feeling compelled to resign from her place, she says:

“Yea, I’m looking forward to the way forward for women and girls in chess and US Chess Ladies regardless that brief time period it’s fairly painful to depart. The response from the general public has been so supportive. Because of sturdy strikes by Chess.com and Lichess, persons are beginning to perceive extra clearly and that we have to recruit extra nice management to match the explosive development of chess lately.”