Step 1:

Start off by drawing an 8 by 8 inch square.

Step 2:

Then draw 8 horizontal and 8 vertical lines to make 64 1 by 1 inch squares

Step 3:

Next, alternate drawing ten horizontal and vertical lines (making 100 0.1 by 0.1 inch squares) in every other of the larger squares.

Step 4:

Within each of the hashed 64 squares, draw diagonal lines extending in all four directions at every other intersection of the horizontal and vertical lines.

Step 5:

To get your board ready to be laser cut out (for AutoCAD at least), select the outer lines and change their color to the index red and set its line weight at 0.00mm.

Step 6:

To start making your pieces, start with a circle with a 0.4243in radius and draw a second circle with a 0.3984in radius inside the first circle. Then set the outermost circle’s color to red and a line weight of 0.00mm.

Step 7:

Next draw whatever symbols you want to represent the types of pieces (pawn, rook, knight, bishop, King, Queen)

Step 8:

To create the second set of pieces, copy the same hashing pattern used for the squares on the board, and place your piece designs in the center of them. Then it will be only a matter of trimming the lines out of your drawing.