From the source code + OpenCV documentation this should be Number of inner corners per a chessboard row and column.
bool cv::findChessboardCorners ( InputArray image, Size patternSize, OutputArray corners, int flags = CALIB_CB_ADAPTIVE_THRESH+CALIB_CB_NORMALIZE_IMAGE)Parameters image Source chessboard view. It must be an 8-bit grayscale or color image. patternSize Number of inner corners per a chessboard row and column ( patternSize = cv::Size(points_per_row,points_per_colum) = cv::Size(columns,rows) ). corners Output array of detected corners. flags Various operation flags that can be zero or a combination of the following values: CALIB_CB_ADAPTIVE_THRESH Use adaptive thresholding to convert the image to black and white, rather than a fixed threshold level (computed from the average image brightness). CALIB_CB_NORMALIZE_IMAGE Normalize the image gamma with equalizeHist before applying fixed or adaptive thresholding. CALIB_CB_FILTER_QUADS Use additional criteria (like contour area, perimeter, square-like shape) to filter out false quads extracted at the contour retrieval stage. CALIB_CB_FAST_CHECK Run a fast check on the image that looks for chessboard corners, and shortcut the call if none is found. This can drastically speed up the call in the degenerate condition when no chessboard is observed.