Freemen on the Board: New Sect Spotted on Lichess

EXCLUSIVE

A fringe group who believe that the rules of chess only apply to them where they’ve actively opted in appear to increasingly prevalent in the chess world.

Freemen on the Board (FoBs), as they are known, or Sovereign Masters, are a made-up group with a tedious interpretation of FIDE’s rulebook that they claim means that they can opt in and out of any rule of regulation by shoufing a load of seemingly meaningless legal words at an arbiter.

They believe that FIDE, national chess federations and sites such as Lichess.com and chess.org are violating their basic human rights.

FoBs have not only been seen objecting to their opponents castling or taking en passant, but have even objected to being subject to time controls. Some have even denied the existence of checkmate in order to avoid defeat.

A FoB Spokesman who would only identify himself as “Son of Garry” explained:
“If you want to play me in a 5 minute game that’s your choice, but I’m not having no clock destroying my unalienable rights. I’m gonna take as long as I want.

“In fact, I’m preparing my own human rights case against all chess clock manufacturers. This will be heard in my own personal court, because all other courts don’t legally exist.”

Speculation is growing amongst viewers of the ongoing Chennai Olympiad that several top players have become subscribers to the belief system. Members of an FoB telegram group have claimed GM Sam Shankland appeared to attempt opting out of the touch-move rule, and GM Aryan Tari opted out of the requirement for a position to be repeated three times before a draw by repetition could be claimed.

Lichess has been especially popular with FoBs, who believe that playing under one’s real name is a tacit acceptance of the rules. A Lichess spokesperson said “I’ve never heard so much bollocks in my life. When you join the site you accept the rules and Terms of Service.”