I watched this only for the staggeringly brilliant Lou de Laage, who is good here but has been much better elsewhere. She is the girlfriend and another chess-player in the tournament. Her arc is intriguing, and echoes what I read about female chess players and the sexism they face in Harper's magazine.
I wish I could have found the protagonist compelling. This is another arrogant jerk/chess "genius" you see so much of in movies. It doesn't help that I don't play chess. The directing is also lackluster and chaotic -- generic Hollywood thriller style, if you like, with too much unnecessary camera motion, and the murky lighting obscures the story. Although the locations certainly help! The director Namer has not directed another film since, but remains a prolific writer. She wrote the screenplay for _Lost Patient_, which I have seen; it isn't much better than _The Tournament_.
I wish I could have found the protagonist compelling. This is another arrogant jerk/chess "genius" you see so much of in movies. It doesn't help that I don't play chess. The directing is also lackluster and chaotic -- generic Hollywood thriller style, if you like, with too much unnecessary camera motion, and the murky lighting obscures the story. Although the locations certainly help! The director Namer has not directed another film since, but remains a prolific writer. She wrote the screenplay for _Lost Patient_, which I have seen; it isn't much better than _The Tournament_.