Chess and animals: war

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of animals in warfare and their representation in board games, particularly in chess variants. It describes the use of animals in medieval Europe and Asia, highlighting that their role was not only material but also had a significant psychological impact through heraldic symbolism. Using available information on 150 board games—including their objective, the pieces used, the region, and the date of their creation—the study calculates the extent to which the use of zoomorphic pieces contributes to the development of skills relevant to warfare. Subsequently, this relationship is explored in greater depth across regional and historical chess variants, revealing that animals have been considered powerful allies in all of them due to their physical characteristics, such as speed, strength, and power, and their representation in the movement of these pieces on the board. Next, some story of armed conflicts resolved through chess games are presented, and finally, the case of the Father of the Nation and his close relationship with chess.  In this way, the aim is to contribute to an interdisciplinary field of study that links military history, cultural anthropology and ludology.