A blanket or bedspread showing a chess game. Use the design shown in the pictures ( the famous checkmate which ended the Immortal Game, played in 1851 between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky) or create your own unique version.

The pattern can easily be used to show the board set up for the beginning of a game, or any other arrangement of the pieces. Just sketch out your design on the blank chessboard and use the charts to work each chess piece.

Using aran weight yarn and a 5mm needle the blanket measures about 168 cm (5 feet 6 inches) square, although it could be knitted with any size of needle and weight of yarn. It’s knitted all in one piece, including the borders, so it does get quite heavy as you get towards the end.

It takes about 1400g of the main colour and 100g each of the two contrast colours, although exact amounts will depend on the design you use and the number of pieces on the board. You will need to use a circular needle to take the large number of stitches and stitch markers are recommended to mark the squares and avoid mistakes.