You can download a free trial of fritz then uninstall fritz and chessbaselight premium will keep the 3d realist chessbord.
ChessBase Light Premium 2009

How about uninstalling CB9 and then re-installing it? This is a generic fix for many problems in many different programs IF you're using Windows.
I'm using CB9 (full version) and the 3-D board works there
BTW is there some reason why you can't contact CB Tech Support for help?

Thanks guys
Good to know the board was working in CB9 although I am wondering whether they might have stripped out the functionality for Chessbase Light Premium 2009 edition (disappointing if so since no reference to this in the product description)
I have pinged their support, am waiting patiently to hear their thoughts...;-)
The actual error message is "File(s) missing in B:\ProgramFilesx86\Chessbase\3d\MATERIAL\modern\?Directory"
Having used the programme a bit now it is actually pretty good but it's just annoying that an advertised feature doesn't work
I'll post back with any developments. Any other suggestions / thoughts welcome!
I just bought a key for Chessbase light premium 2009 and already am regretting it because the 3D board view appears to be broken - when I try to use it I get an error message saying there are files missing
Does anyone have this and have it working properly?