Chessboard
A 'chess' board where one piece works its way up the board, one move per page, for a post that lays out a strategy as deliberate moves in order — each page lights the move's square with an arrow from the last and names the move below the 'chessboard', and the closing page shows the whole path.
When the AI picks it
MarketiQ’s Creative Director favours the Chessboard for posts that teach, when the message is steps or a process or a list. It is built first to teach.
It reads each post’s goal and shape first, then its own words, the platform and the facts you have, and offers this template only where it fits.
Who it’s for
Any business. Nothing in it assumes what you sell, so the Director can offer it to a software company, a café or a coaching centre alike — whenever the post fits.
Platforms and sizes
| Size | Where |
|---|---|
| 4:51080 × 1350 px | Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads |
Carousel of 3–10 slides. Each size is laid out for its canvas, not cropped; the sample above is the 4:5 version.
What it needs
Only your post. It is made from your copy and your brand kit — there is nothing else to prepare.
Rules the AI follows
Word for word from the template library. The Director follows the copy rules when it writes into the template, and the visual review checks every creative against the visual rules.
Copy rules
- Use it only when the post sets out a strategy as deliberate moves played in order — never for unrelated tips, a product list or a lesson in real chess (the board is no game).
- Each row is one move: a short imperative and what it sets up, in the order the moves are played.
- The cover names the game being played; the closing line is the reader's next move.
Visual rules
- A full chessboard in the brand's tints on every page, with no coordinates, and every move one its piece may legally make.
- Each move page lights its square in the brand colour with a generic piece on it and a dashed arrow from the last square, earlier squares numbered, above (beside, at 1:1) the move and its body.
- The cover sets the pieces at the start; the closing page shows the whole numbered path to a king.
More Mental models templates
Brick by brick
A brick wall that rises one course per page, for a post about 'building blocks' laid in order, each resting on the last
Interlocking gears
A train of meshing gears, big and small, for a post about parts that drive one another
Rope bridge
A rope bridge across a gap laid one plank per page, for a post about getting from where someone is to where they want to be
Spectrum
A knob along one graded scale with a stop per position, for a post that places options between two ends
Rubric
A grading sheet of criteria with empty check boxes, for a post that sets out how to judge something
Prism facets
A glass prism splitting one white beam into a fan of coloured rays on a dark ground, for a post that looks at one subject 'through four lenses'
Padlocks
A padlock as big as the page whose shackle springs open on every page, for a post that hands over the keys to something
Jigsaw
A jigsaw whose pieces lock into place one per page, for a post about the 'pieces of the puzzle'
Make a Chessboard with your brand.
MarketiQ writes the post, picks the template that carries it best — this one, when it fits — and fills it with your logo, colours, facts and copy.