India, Feb. 10 -- Twelve Freestyle Chess Players Club members, which includes reigning world champion from India, D Gukesh, have agreed to form an independent players association with a qualified legal team to represent their interests, Freestyle Chess said in a statement issued on Monday. This move comes in direct response to recent clashes with Fide, said the statement.

The Sunday evening meeting, following the first day of the quarterfinals, included all Freestyle Chess Grand Slam participants in Weissenhaus, Germany, remote members of the Freestyle Chess Players Club and Freestyle Chess organiser Jan Buettner. "They agreed to temporarily avoid using "world" to counter Fide's unfounded claims of ownership over such word."

"This was n...