| 1 | Valentine | | Mireile's cousin. |
| | Mireile | | A young nun novice. Protagonist. |
| | Count | De Remy | Valentine's grandfather. |
| | Carolus | Magnus | The architect of the building. |
| | Alexandrine | De Forbin | The mother superior. |
| | Marie-Charlotte | De Corday | A French journalist. |
| | Mirabeau | | The great statesman. |
| | Bill | Of Seizure | The bishop of Autun. |
| | King | Charlemagne | The King. |
| | Garin | The Frank | The best chess player in King Charlemagne's kingdom. |
| | Ibn | Al-Arabi | The Muslim governor of Barcelona. |
| | Duke | Of Burgundy | The King's friend. |
| | Jacques-Louis | David | A painter. Mireile and Valentine's uncle. |
| | M.David | | Valentine's godfather. The heart of the chess-board. |
| 2 | Catherine | Velis | A computer expert. Protagonist. |
| | Jock | Upham | The firm's senior partner. |
| | Lisle | | Catherine's colleague. |
| | Calouste | Gul-Benkian | One of Velis's workmates. |
| 3 | Llewellyn | Markham | Blanche's brother. |
| | Harry | Rad | Velis's former client and a close friend. |
| | Blanche | Rad | Harry's wife. |
| | Lily | Rad | Harry and Blanche's daughter. A chess grandmaster. |
| | Saul | | Harry's driver. |
| | Mimsy | | The fortune teller. |
| 4 | Charles Maurice | Talleyrand-Perigold | David's friend. The bishop of Autun. |
| | Duchesse | De Luynes | One of David's mistresses. |
| | Duchesse | De Fitz-James | One of David's mistresses. |
| | Vitcomtesse | De Laval | One of David's mistresses. |
| | Princes | De Vaudemont | One of David's mistresses. |
| | Germaine | De Stael | The Grand Dame of Paris. |
| | Jacques | Necker | Germaine's father. A
Swiss finance minister. |
| | Suzanne | Necker | Germaine's mother. |
| | Eric | Stael Von Hol-Stein | Germaine's husband. A baron. |
| | Courtiade | | Talleyrand's valet. |
| | Richelieu | | The cardinal. |
| | Francois Marie | Arouet | A French poet and playwright. Aka: Voltaire. |
| | Catherine | The Great | The Empress of Russia. Aka: Sophia Anhalt-Zerbst. |
| 5 | Con | Edison | One of Velis's clients. |
| | Carioca | | Lily's pet. |
| | Bobby | Fischer | A chess grandmaster. |
| | Alexander | Solarin | A chess master. Aka: Alexie. |
| | Antony | Fiske | A big chess player. |
| | Paul | Murphy | The first U.S. chess champion. |
| | Gogol | | The arbiter. |
| 6 | Count | Potemkin | The Count of Russia. |
| | Paul | | Sophia's son. |
| | Helene | De Rique | The Abbess of Montglane. Sophia's oldest friend. |
| | Plato | Zubov | Sophia's lover. |
| | Valerian | Zubov | Plator's brother. |
| | King Frederick | William | The King of Russia. |
| | Czarina | Elizabeth Petrovna | Daughter of Peter The Great. |
| | Grand Duke | Peter | Czarina's nephew. |
| | Euler | | An astronomer and mathematician. |
| | Anna | Ivanovna | Ivan's daughter. |
| | Anna | Of Mecklenburg | The former ruler. |
| | Prince | Edward | Henry III's son. |
| | Clementh | 12th | The pope. |
| | Peter | The Great | Sophia's 1st husband. |
| | Gustavus | | The King of Sweden. |
| | Prince | Regent | The Prince of Prussia. |
| 7 | Ladislaus | Nim | Velis's friend. A chess master. |
| | Brodski | | Solarin's guard. |
| 9 | Carlos | | Velis's caretaker. |
| | Danton | | The Lion of the assembly. |
| | Sister | Claude | Sister Alexandrine's personal secretary. |
| | Camille | Desmoulins | The Enfant
Célèbre of Paris. |
| | Maximilien | Robespierre | The revolutionary leader. |
| | Andre | Philidor | The finest chess player in Europe. A composer. |
| | Abraham | Janssen | Philip Stamna. One of the best chess players. |
| | Bach | | The Kapellmeister. |
| | Wilhelm | Bach | Bach's son. |
| | Carl Phillipp | Emanuel Bach | Wilhelm's brother. Bach's son. |
| | Jean-Jacques | Rousseau | The great philosopher. |
| | Minnie | Renselaas | Nim's acquaintance. |
| 10 | Mordecai | | A chess master. Velis's friend. |
| 12 | Valerie | | Harry's maid. |
| 13 | Jean Phillippe | Petard | The firm's senior partner. |
| | Emile | Kamel-Kader | The petroleum minister. |
| | Leonardo | Fibonacci | An Italian mathematician. |
| | R.N | Elliott | A theorist. |
| | Sharrif | | Velis's acquaintance. |
| | Abdel-Salaam | Belaid | The minister of industry and energy. |
| | Dr. | Osgood | A tournament physician. |
| 14 | Madame | De Maintenon | Consort of Louis XIV. |
| | Maria-Anna | Bonaparte | Napoleon's sister. Aka: Elisa. |
| | Napoleone | Bonaparte | The French soldier that Mireile met. |
| | Pasquale | Di Paoli | Napoleon's leader. |
| | Letizia | Ramolino | Napoleon's mother. |
| | Chretien | De Troyes | A French poet. |
| | Carlos | Bonaparte | Napoleon's father. |
| | Elissa | | The sister of King Tyre. |
| | Maria-Carolina | | Napoleon's sister. |
| | Franz | Fesch | Letizia's stepfather. |
| | Grimm | | A philosopher. |
| | Diderot | | A philosopher. |
| | James | Boswell | A biographer. |
| | Charles | The Bald | Grandson of
Charlemagne. |
| | Taillefer | The Ironcutter | The Hero of the Battle of Hastings. |
| | Helie | Talleyrand | Charles's father. |
| | Louis | XVI | The King of France. |
| | Andre | Chenier | The poet. |
| | William | Woodsworth | A poet.
Robespierre's companion. |
| | William | Blake | The poet who published the French revolution. |
| | Lucciano | Bonaparte | Napoleon's brother. |
| | Angela Maria | Di Pietra-Santa | Elisa's grandmother. |
| 15 | Belaid | | The minister. |
| | Mr. | Petard | Velis's manager. |
| 16 | Shahin | | Mireille's guide. |
| | Daia | | Goddess of Wells. |
| | Genet | | The ambassador. |
| | Charlot | | Mireille's son. |
| | Al-Kalim | | The man who talks to spirits. |
| 17 | El-Marad | | The carpet trader. Kamel Kader's friend. |
| | Mokhfi | Mokhtar | The owner of the missing chess pieces. |
| 18 | Wahad | | The tour guide. |
| 19 | Lauze | Deperret | A deputy. |
| | Charles-Jean | Marie-Barbaroux | A French politician of the revolutionary period. |
| | Leonhard | Euler | The great mathematician. |
| | Jean Paul | Marat | The physician. |
| | Simonne | Evrard | Marat's natural wife. |
| | Albertine | | Marat's sister. |
| | Therese | Levasseur | Rousseau's mistress. |
| | Giovanni | Casanova | A lawyer. |
| | Louis | Quinze | The King of France. |
| | Doge | | Doge of Venice. |
| 20 | John | Newland | The English chemist. |
| 23 | Pitt | | The prime minister. |
| | Benedict | Arnold | A revolutionary officer. |
| 24 | Minister | Yamini | The Saudi minister. |
| | Muammar | Khaddafi | The colonel. |
| | Yamini | | The King's minister. |
| | Valerie | | Mokthar's child. |
| | Michel | | Mokthar's child. |
| | Renselaas | | Minnie's husband. The
Dutch consul. |
| 25 | Benjamin | Franklin | The founding father of the United States. |
