While chess is far from a "team sport"...the pieces to the game are "team players"... working together to achieve the goal of checkmate. In many cases a piece as lowly as a pawn is all the advantage needed to win.
I also like the lighting in this but prefer the sepia...the way you have set them up sorta' reminds me of the players in a courtroom standing before the judges bench...don't know why, lol, it just does...nice composition, Kurt.:Pat.