Four Seasons chess set - spring

The Libro de Axedrez, Dados e Tablas ('Book of Chess, Dice and Tables') was commissioned by King Alfonso X of Castille and completed in 1283. It is one of Europe's oldest surviving books on games. The book contains chess problems as well as several chess variants, and among those variants is one referred to as 'Ajedrex de los Quatro Tiempos', or 'Four Seasons Chess'.

Four Seasons Chess is a variant for four players, each having eight pieces (king, rook, bishop, knight and four pawns). The board is the normal 8 x 8 chequered board, but has an additional cross to aid the direction of movement of the pawns. The four players represent the four seasons, as well as four elements and four humors. For instance, the black pieces represent autumn as well as 'earth' and 'melancholy'.

I wanted to create a set for Four Seasons Chess, over the time span of four seasons. For spring, the aim was to create the basic board from a square of plywood. The squares and cross are painted brown and yellow, as depicted in the Libro de Axedrex.

Finally, the edges (and underside) of the board are painted green.

Basic board done! Why the edges are so broad you'll find out in the next phase: summer!