Ugh... watching this game frustrates me to no end.

I hate Magicwand's style. I hate his attitude towards players, I hate the reasoning he gives for most of his moves, and how he happens to get away with so much in this game because I feel Kirby is getting intimidated by the bully.

Mind you, I don't hate Magicwand, it's simply what he represents, the club player who plays on instinct and reading, but always has inconsistent thinking. There was a time when I tried to get stronger by playing such players, but I would never grow conceptually. I would never have games where the outcome was decided because my opening and endgame skill was higher(though often true), it was only because I outfought in the middlegame, because these kinds of players will overplay, overplay, and overplay, until the game is simply one huge fight.

And then they review. They always assert that their moves were rooted firmly in their intuition, so whether or not they were correct or not is usually irrelevant to them, because they're so reliant on intuition that they are usually willing to accept their mistakes and lack of understanding of Go theory because they are satisfied with the way they currently play.

Playing against people like that only seems to strengthen your reading and fighting shape. You never really learn new tricks, sharpen your endgame, or develop opening prowess, the game is essentially all middlegame.

And it pains me so much because I've met Mr. Kirby. And I've seen Mr. Kirby play. He's an honest player who looks straight at the board and tries to rationally come up with each move. He's been using this method to get stronger for quite some time, and it always pains me to see a rational, thinking type player, who establishes an early lead and dominating position get beaten by a stronger player who leaves many openings and chances for punishment, but still wins in the end.

Man... if Kirby doesn't win this game, I might have to play a game with Magicwand over this summer.

The first thing that came to my head when I read Violence's comment:
Kirby

Magicwand