A nice idea Mister Nevin, though I must admit to being disappointed
when I clicked through. The use of a shallow depth of field is essential
for this type of shot, and you’ve got that, but your main subject needs
to be in perfect focus for it to work, and it’s not, so it doesn’t.
Would be worth trying again, but perhaps give both board and chess piece
a good polishing (there’s a nice reflection possible from that board) and
light from perhaps one side with a desk lamp or something….