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.
(hide) If you are waiting for your turn, click on "change" next to the "refresh" on the main page, then set refresh the page to 30 seconds to get your turn to move displayed faster. (Servant) (show all tips)