So many stones! Will be easy

i think he has advantage with 7 stone.
but this is for learning experience.
i saw him play on other games and was pretty strong.
i will try my best to win.

Thats an unconventional approach from an unconventional side. I feel he has something interesting planned for the bottom, but there is no sense in overthinking this now. I'm going to play this solid move to deny him a base.

same opening i use for every 7 stone handycap.

Ahh, so thats what he is up to. I think I will ignore his cap to play on either the top or bottom.

He can't kill me in one move

it is hard in the beginning but i will wait till makes his mistake.

I briefly considered the pincer here but I think that would be too easy on him. I don't mind him getting a position on the bottom, but I don't want Q10 to die without making some noise. Also this is the point of symmetry and just looks so pretty.

Since I am back home I have time to type some general thoughts on the game

My brain knows Magicwand is extremely strong at these handicap games and more than capable of crushing me. In my heart however, I look at the board and simply don't believe I can lose.

I am going to play the way I always play: actively and always seeking the best possible move without compromise. I don't think I am capable of even playing any way else. I think this will serve me well in general, the danger is that if I start doubting myself or become uncertain of the situation on the board then my spirit will quickly crumble more than the average player and it may be a rout. Against a stronger player this is always an unavoidable possibility, it will be how I deal with those moments of doubt and keep focused that will determine my chances to win the game. Magicwand is REALLY good atsowing doubt and confusion. I have seen him play a lot of move that to my eyes, look really odd but also makes me very uncomfortable. If this game turns into a tactical mess I will be in a disadvantage, however I cannot consciously accept an inferior position to avoid this. I simply have to toughen it out and use the handicap stones to help me fight against a superior opponent.

Right now, I like the way this game is going. If I win this game, I see myself winning through cutting apart white's position's globally and maintaining my superior power on the board. If I lose, it will be because Magicwand forces me to fight in a murky scenario where the priorities and his motives are unclear. Some of the latter will undoubtedly happen, lets see how well I can deal with it when it comes.

that exchange was bad for black.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 6 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 O 9 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If his last move works that means that my P6 was bad, and I'm having trouble seeing that. He may be 8 stones stronger than me, but I can only play by what I read.

only move for me.
it seems that he catch my two stones but actuallly i gained on this exchange.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm11 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3 5 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 O X 4 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 O 0 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm11 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3 5 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 O X 4 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 O 0 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

MagicWand says that this exchange is good for White. Well, for one thing, is small. For another,

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm11 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O 7 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 9 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 O B 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

at

Black has a nice sacrifice with sente.

i guess he missed that atari.

White got pretty strong in that area, but I'm settled there and have sente. He started with more stones there locally. I wonder who came out ahead, by how much?

As for this move, I've been eyeing it for a while, but at the very end I hesitated and wondered if I should play E3. E3 probably denies more white possibilities on the left, but I think its my fear talking and I hate the negativity of that move. My right corner is solid, I shouldn't be afraid of fighting.