CSS nth-child apply odd-even rule but switch every 4 items

Question

I have a list of divs that appear 4 in a row with a class and I would like to create a checkerboard background style, meaning:

• Apply a different

Answer 1

You may also use only 4 selectors to switch the background-color. (answer similar to @MichałMiszczyszyn => shorter approach)

The repeating pattern goes on 2 rows of 4 elements, the choice of :nth-child(8n) is indeed the basic pattern to work on, example :

:nth-child(8n-1),
:nth-child(8n-3),
:nth-child(8n-6),
:nth-child(8n-12){
background:/* switch to the other value here */;
}

.square {
  width:25%;
  margin:auto;
  background:turquoise;
  counter-reset:div;
  overflow:hidden; /* to deal with float */
}

.square div {
  float:left;
  width:25%;
  text-align:center;
  background:green;
}
.square div:nth-child(8n-1),
.square div:nth-child(8n-3),
.square div:nth-child(8n-6),
.square div:nth-child(8n-12){
background:tomato;
}

/* demo purpose */
body:hover div div {
background:initial;/* resets to none to show parents background */
}
.square div:before {
  content:'';
  padding-top:100%;
  display:inline-block;
  vertical-align:middle;
}
.square div:after {
  counter-increment:div;
  content:counter(div);
  display:inline-block;
  vertical-align:middle;
  font-size:2vw;
}

The pattern will repeat itself every 8 elements.

Notice that you can spare the initial background-color of squares and use the parent background.