"Because this Great Chess is very slow and long to play, We, King Alfonso, ordered dice to be made to speed its play and which show their hierarchy by the pips on the dice.

The dice are made in this way: they have eight triangular sides because they could not be made in another way for this game. Even though the triangle has an odd number of sides it has to fall flat side down; if it had an even number of sides it would fall on its edge. And so these dice were made with eight sides for the eight types of pieces."