I just played a weird game on KGS. The challenger had no rank and changed the game offer to "free", and I said why the hell not. What ensued is a very interesting game.

At first I thought I was playing against a complete newbie, sporting one of the weirdest fuseki I've seen. Then I got immmediately wrecked. I must say I think I played well (didn't lose any groups) but I was constantly under siege and had to work hard to simply live.

I asked him often how srong he was, but he didn't answer. After the game he proposed to play again, and I agreed, but at the second game I lost focus and resigned after getting two big groups killed.

Anyway, I'm intrigued by this player. His style is strange. Agressive, unorthodox... Yet he was clearly much stronger than me. But how much? My estimate rounds 1-2 kyu (me being 6) but I'd like to hear what you guys think... Thanks.

Oh, and I'd LOVE to get the game reviewed too, as in... Things I should've done.

I play black

Not very strong. 1 kyu to 2 dan at most.

1. Don't play an Armpit Hit.

2. You need to play more carefully and read more. I simply refuse to believe you couldn't read several places where you lost stones. But looking at the times, you were often playing in just one or two seconds time.

As for the player, I'm inclined to think he was stronger than me. How much so, I'm not sure.

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Occupy Babel!

44 points = 4 stones
strange opening = 1 stone
guest playing for fun mode = 1 stone
========
6 stones stronger than you

He was 1 dan KGS.

Q.E.D.!

I don't have the time to link to posts, but we are notoriously bad at guessing rank based on a game (although maybe a bit better when we know one players' strength--as here).

Yes completely agreed on #2. On free games, I don't pay that much attention and tend to play at my opponent's speed. Since he was playing fast, I was too, but I sure should've read more.

Thanks everyone for the tips!

I'd guess 2-4d KGS or so. My initial feeling is he's stronger than I am.

Those games were fun, whatever happened to those?

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Occupy Babel!

W looks fairly strong. His move 62 was too slow, but the game was already won, and I did not see any other significant mistakes. Apart from his opening four moves, I don't think his play was unusual or overly aggressive. B played a lot of slow, overly defensive moves, and gradually fell behind.

Consider playing at N3 or possibly even M3. This combination of extension-pincer would make it harder for the W stone at K4 to make a base, and it would also secure more corner territory, if W invaded as in the game.

is the right idea, but the wrong point. Holding back to M3 would be better (after taking the free atari at R2). The exchange of contact plays in the game actually helped W settle his weak stone.

The cut was perhaps an overplay (hane and connect underneath would be usual), but once you have played it, you are committed to saving the cutting stone. So at move 35 you must extend to K6 and fight. This fight would be quite playable for B, while giving W a ponnuki here is hopeless. In the game result, B has clearly been outplayed -- W has superior territory and useful thickness, while B is over-concentrated and his thickness has no target to attack. I am sure W knew he had a won game by this point.

is a slow move which gives W too much; you must hane at C2 to contest the corner territory and try to secure a base.

Feels dan level.

His tesujis in the upper left would have been pretty unusual at the kyu level.

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Tactics yes, Tact no...

seems I'm right. I checked the kgs archives and he lost to people who claimed to be 2d and 3d. I also checked a slightly similar username pp1234, and it seems he lost his game against 1k, 3d and 4d.

The devil is in the details there, though. If our mystery player lost those games by giving those opponents all the corners while taking the 10s like in this game, or some similar form of wacky, self-handicapping opening then the story is very different than if those games were played with more orthodox fuseki.

- Marty Lund