Caïssa

The concept of Caïssa originated in a 658-line poem called Scacchia Ludus published in 1527 by Hieronymus Vida (Marco Girolamo Vida), which describes in Latin Virgilian hexameters a chess game between Apollo and Mercury in the presence of the other gods, and among them a dryad of chess named Schacchia.

In it, to avoid unclassical words such as rochus (chess rook) or alfinus (chess bishop), the rooks are described as towers (armored howdahs) on elephants' backs, and the bishops as archers: Tum geminae velut extremis in cornibus arces hinc atque hinc altis stant propugnacula muris, quae dorso immanes gestant in bella Elephanti.

"Then twin, as if at the ends, citadels in the corners, here and here stand ramparts with high walls, which are carried into war on the back by immense elephants."

The card game Android: Netrunner features a program type named Caïssa, which are modeled after chess pieces.

Victoria Winifred's children's novel, The Princess, the Knight, and the Lost God: A Chess Story, features Caïssa as a character.