anastasia: Like wekke said, they were rooks/knights at one time, and let there membership go.

They are still "in" the fellowship, BUT they can not read the boards and can not join the tournaments and can not join the teams. (So basicly they can do nothing.)

Some BIG BOSSes remove the pawns, while others keep them around since some may renew their membership and when they do, will already be in the fellowship.