Playing like an idiot…
B+R
Ever notice how sometimes you really feel like playing go, but you know you’re not going to do a scrap of reading for whatever reason? I started out with good intentions last night, playing a ranked game with relatively short time controls (10:/:20) against a 9k (giving me White). I hadn’t practiced my tsumego all day, and I just wasn’t in the mood to do any deep thinking…
Needless to say, B+R!
B+R
I got smart about things… well, someone gave me the idea 
I put up another ranked game with all the same time controls… this time a guest offered me a free game. Good idea! I knew I wasn’t going to play any better than last time. The game was interesting, but I gave up too much by overplaying and underreading. The early opening was a bit more promising for me, but I saved where I should have sacrificed! I thrashed around a bit more, and B+R!
W+R
I’m still feeling fine about myself and my game… I mean, I knew I wasn’t reading - it’s nice to play for the fun of it. My last game smartened me up, though — this time I listed a free game (same time controls). Before you go congratulating me on a win, I took Black this time…
At least this game was relatively even going, even to yose (I was a bit behind, but probably not enough for a resignation). This time, though, I decided to make a 1p sente move to negate the 1p sacrifice yose. It’d be easier to show you:
Needless to say, he extended and really screwed me up. I managed to get a nice 50 point ko out of the deal (certainly a flower ko for Black). Which I of course lost… I didn’t really care that much, until my opponent (a guest again) “reviewed” my game for me — he completed yose and showed me just how much I lost by. What a nice guy.
So I wasn’t really feeling bad about my game - I knew going in that I wasn’t really thinking… but that one guy made me feel pretty bad about people in general. And that’s why I play IRL games
One thing that’s making me pretty happy about go, though:
US GO CONGRESS
12%
AUGUST 2007
Let’s keep THAT going!