Help finishing a wenge/maple/purple heart chessboard

Hi,
I recently stared a project making a chessboard. The squares are made with wenge and maple, and the frame will be made with a small boarder of purple heart, followed by maple.

First I am wondering if I should seal/fill the pores of the wenge. If so how do I go about doing this?

Second how should I finish the board? I want to make the maple pop, but I'm worried that what ever I would put on it might not absorb/work well with the wenge and purple heart.

Does anybody have any suggestions for me as to how I should go about finishing this project up?