Issue with dictionaries/lists of lists in my python board game project

my name is Jeremiah, this is my first time posting here so if I missed a good post on this I apologize in advance.The main goal of this project is to make a text based board game with a procedurally generated game board. Basically, the way my code works is that I start by defining dimensions of a 2d list as I understand it where we then make a dictionary for each individual space that holds the attributes. The computer then does a bunch of random calculation to make a bunch of floats that it then checks against a few parameters to label the different attributes as strings that I can then hopefully use later. The problem that I am running into is in my findConnectedSpaces() function. The way that I have it working at least in my head is that it will go through a bunch of try except blocks and try to modify the coordinates of the space it is currently on and add or subtract 1 to the coordinate value and check if there is an index error. Basically the idea is that I have a 6 column 5 row, grid with all of the spaces on it and I am trying to check the surrounding 8 squares to see if those squares "exist" in my 2d list. If they do it counts the squares as "connected" the idea is that I want the players to eventually be able to move like a king in chess. When I run my program however, the first row doesn’t acknowledge any connections at all and the only things that end up appending into the connectedSpaces[] array are spaces that involve yUp in someway. Basically the square up, upRight, and upLeft, connect but nothing else? Does anyone have an idea of how I might try to fix this? I have been working at it for a few hours now.

#Importing my modules
import random
import math

#Define all of my variables to be able to add them to my list later
spaceType = float
exists = bool
number = int
connected = bool
connectedSpaces = []
spaceX = 'x'
spaceY = 'y'


#Define the 2d Array and add all of the tiles.
width = 6
height = 5
board = []



#Find the connected spaces

def findConnectedSpaces():
    
    #define a list for the connected spaces
    
    #define all of the coordinates as a variable so we can check them later
    xRight = space[spaceX] + 1
    xLeft = space[spaceX] - 1
    yUp = space[spaceY] - 1
    yDown = space[spaceY] + 1
    try:
        spaceRight = board[space[spaceY]][xRight][number]
        connectedSpaces.append(spaceRight)
        print('Connected: R')
    except IndexError:
        print('Couldnt connect: R')
        pass

    try:
        spaceLeft = board[space[spaceY]][xLeft][number]
        connectedSpaces.append(spaceLeft)
        print('Connected: L')
    except IndexError:
        print('Couldnt connect: L')
        pass  # Skip if out of bounds

    try:
        spaceDown = board[yDown][space[spaceX]][number]
        connectedSpaces.append(spaceDown)
        print('Connected: D')
    except IndexError:
        print('Couldnt connect: D')
        pass  # Skip

    try:
        spaceUp = board[yUp][space[spaceX]][number]
        connectedSpaces.append(spaceUp)
        print('Connected: U')
    except IndexError:
        print('Couldnt connect: U')
        pass  # Skip
    
    try:
        spaceRightDown = board[yDown][xRight][number]
        connectedSpaces.append(spaceRightDown)
        print('Connected: RD')
    except IndexError:
        print('Couldnt connect: RD')
        pass  # Skip
    
    try:
        spaceLeftDown = board[yDown][xLeft][number]
        connectedSpaces.append(spaceLeftDown)
        print('Connected: LD')
    except IndexError:
        print('Couldnt connect: LD')
        pass  # Skip
    
    try:
        spaceRightUp = board[yUp][xRight][number]
        connectedSpaces.append(spaceRightUp)
        print('Connected: RU')
    except IndexError:
        print('Couldnt connect: RU')
        pass  # Skip
    
    try:
        spaceLeftUp = board[yUp][xLeft][number]
        connectedSpaces.append(spaceLeftUp)
        print('Connected: LU')
    except IndexError:
        print('Couldnt connect: LU')
        pass  # Skip
    

    
    # Print the connected spaces
    print(f"{space[number]} is connected to: {connectedSpaces}")

    return connectedSpaces  # Return the list of valid connected spaces
    
# Create a loop to create all of the dictionaries.
for y in range(height):
    row = []
    for x in range(width):
        #create the dictionary for the space
        space = {}
        #use a random number to find the space type
        space[spaceType] = random.random()
        #use a random number to find out if the space exists
        space[exists] = random.random()
        #number the space
        space[number] = (x + 1) + (y * width)
        space[spaceX] = x
        space[spaceY] = y
        connectedSpaces = []
        #run my functions
        findSpaceType()
        doesSpaceExist()
        findConnectedSpaces()
        print(space[spaceY])
        print(space[spaceX])
        row.append(space)
    board.append(row)
    print(board)

I have tried to do this based on the Space number as well and decided to do this instead to hopefully allow the board to expand easier.

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