I agree Weir should have pulled the competition once she realized it was affecting Sheppard, to not do so and to know the history behind his agitation was unconscionable. She proved her point more then halfway through but to just stick it to Kavanagh at John's expense was not the mark of a good leader.

My respect for Carson, Radek and McKay went up while reading this. My respect for Weir and most of the other scientists went down. Considering I had no respect for Kavanagh in the first place, there wasn't a change in regards to him.

Just found this story-it was good, not the usual kind of SGA story... Having John's parent kidnapped and killed because of John winning the chess tournament was so sad-and I find it hard to believe he would ever get over the guilt. That said-it is YOUR story and his anxiety and PTSD with the Atlantis tournament was fitting. I thought Elizabeth was quite callous, knowing the mental anguish John was under, letting the tournament continue, seems she was more concerned with achieving her goal, than with John's well-being. Also thought McCay didnt address John's parents death appropriately at the end, though he was decent enough to give John an out to regroup and finish the games privately.. And since John's parents died because of gambling-the whole betting on Atlantis was way inappropriate, especially from Zelenka, who knew the truth. Sorry I had some problems with your story, no hurt intended-a story, is just that-a story ;) Just always like the my fave team, Elizabeth and Carson all looking out for one another like the family they became...

Wow, that was awesome. Your fic had me captivated until the end.

Thank you very much for writing it.

nice

Being that this story has been up for a while, you've probably gotten an answer to the age question. Joe Flanigan is 42. I've enjoyed the story, and I'm sure that being that you wrote this before Outsiders, was the reason why you did what you did with John's parents. Still really good story.

speaking 5 languages isn't THAT big an achievement. in fact, most of the people in my family know at least that many. ~shrugs~ wonder why john's so against playing chess.

Very interesting and enjoyable fic

I love your take on the mysterious (well that was until "Outcast") childhood of our beloved Sheppard. I can't believe how interesting and entertaining a story about chess could be. I love smart Sheppard and not enough people concentrate on it. Excellent story

That was really good and interesting. I'm glad that you had Sheppard good aat chess, not just math. I liked the whole tournament idea.

Nice story with interesting twists. I really enjoyed John and Rodney's competition in the games, and especially the fact that Sheppard won.

I hadn't read this story before today, as the thought of chess makes me break out in hives. However, after a mention of your prescience regarding John & Rodney & chess on the SGAHC list, I decided to take a look at 'The Tournament.' I'm glad that I did. As always, this was well written and plotted, with a believable reason for the usually strong character of John to be coming apart at the seams. I really liked that Rodney was caring enough to back off on his natural desire to win when he realized what the stress of the competition was doing to John. Thanks for sharing

I liked it. Another great piece o' work. Just a touch too angsty for me though.

This was a cute fic. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing. :)

Great story!

I especially liked Rodney's zombie comments... Very in character. Concern for Sheppard? No. It continued to be all about McKay. :-)

One tiny nit-pick:

a court marshal is one who acts as marshal for a court

a court martial is a military trial