checkerboard formation

Squares would be arranged in a checkerboard formation to minimize the chances of soldiers from one square accidentally shooting the other.

The Swedish forces seem to have been deployed in a checkerboard formation, made up of the infantry regiments formed into 7 or 8 well-spaced independent blocks, with intersecting fields of fire.

Maurice called for a deployment of his battalions in three offset lines, each line giving the one in front of it close support by means of a checkerboard formation, another similarity to Roman military systems, in this case the Legion's Quincunx deployment.