The grandmasters are unionizing – and threatening to strike.

A group called the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) was founded last fall and now claims nearly 200 members, most of the them holding the title of international grandmaster.

The group thinks GMs have been exploited for years by tournament organizers and chess bureaucrats.

The final straw was the European Championship last June in Siliviri, Turkey, where the entrants were charged what they called outrageous hotel room rates.

Since the tournament served as a qualifying event for the FIDE (world chess federation) championship, the GMs who went to Siliviri “felt they were held hostage,” as French Grandmaster Joel Lautier put it.

The ACP’s goal is to reach equitable contracts between players and organizers.

Their first target is what they call the unfair contracts offered by FIDE for its championship tournament scheduled for Libya and Malta beginning June 18.

The ACP has offered its own contract, but has gotten no response and is now threatening to boycott the event. But FIDE claims it has commitments from 110 of the 128 seeded players.