This is the third post in a series on medieval chess. Chequered and unchequered, or different colours are not the only chess board variations found in medieval manuscripts, as shown in a previous post. Also variations in the number of squares are found, i.e. boards not consisting of 8 by 8 squares. It is unclear whether these are mistakes made by the artists or due to restrictions of the image size. Otherwise, they may show variations in the game of chess, with more (new) or less game pieces. Some larger medieval chess boards are known, for instance the popular medieval courier chess which uses a board of 12 by 8 squares, decimal chess on a 10 by 10 squares board, or grande acredex on a 12 by 12 squares board. Below, I will show many boards from medieval illuminations that have some deviation from the 8 by 8 board.
The only correct 8x8 chequered board on this blogpost with white and red chess pieces in the starting position. Recueil de parties et problèmes déchecs: (Collection of games and problems of chess) by Nicholes of S. Nicholaï of Lombardy, Gieu of the eskies. Manuscript copied and painted in Paris, early 14th century. Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris, manuscript Fr. 1173 folio 3.
The collection of faulty chess boards is divided into three parts: chess boards that are larger than the normal 8 by 8 squares, chess boards that are smaller than 8 by 8 boards, and those that are very small: the 5 by 5 and 4 by 4 square boards. The chess boards do not have to be square, they can also be rectangular with one of the sides having more squares. It then depends whether the game is played over the smaller or longer side of the board. Two of the boards that are more frequently shown are a 6 by 6 chequered board and an 4 by 4 board (see table below). Perhaps they represent some unknown chess variants?
| Board size | Number of images | Board size | Number of images | Board size | Number of images |
| 8x7 | 3 | 6x6 | 12 | 12x7 | 1 |
| 8x6 | 1 | 6x5 | 5 | 10x8 | 2 |
| 7x7 | 4 | 5x5 | 4 | 8x9 | 2 |
| 7x6 | 7 | 5x4 | 6 | |
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