Webster SPICE member and chess grandmaster charged with child endangerment

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Chess Grandmaster and Webster Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) team member Andre Diamant has been accused by police of paying his 6-year-old to drink with him after a chess tournament victory in August, according to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Chess Grandmaster and Webster University SPICE team member came to Webster in 2011 from Brazil.
Chess Grandmaster and Webster University SPICE team member came to Webster in 2011 from Brazil.

Diamant was originally charged with second degree endangerment of a child on Aug. 11, according to Missouri’s case.net. He was charged Nov. 30 with a misdemeanor count of child endangerment after he gave his son $40 to drink with him.

Shrewsbury Police Lieutenant Brian Catlett told the Post-Dispatch Diamant was celebrating a chess tournament victory and said he wanted his son to drink because alcohol played a part in religious and cultural traditions in Brazil.

One of the 10 grandmasters on the SPICE team, Diamant came to Webster from Brazil in 2011 to compete on the university’s team. The Post-Dispatch reported Diamant’s wife said he fled back to his homeland after being arrested and released in August.

Diamant is restricted from entering the child’s home or school, and coming within 500 feet of him, per judge orders.

Director of Public Relations Patrick Giblin said due to the Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act the university could not comment on Diamant, but could confirm that he is a student at Webster and plays on the SPICE team.

The Journal will update this story as it develops.

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