Tonight was an extrodinary game with bob, an even game on a full 19×19 board with no handicap that i only just barely lost at the last moment. I started with the chinese fuseki opening style, but it didnt seem to influence the game very much. Bob took all 4 corners, butI had strong hold over the center. i captured two of his groups after some vicious fighting and maintained a good lead, but piddled away a few stones on pointless probes into secure corners. And then, as the end game was drawing to a close, we both at the same moment saw a move that killed a group of mine that was worth over 20 stones. The ending score was 5-9 for him. I was extremely close.

What’s amazing is that this is the first ever even game we’ve played. There were only 5 stones left in my bowl when it was finally done. Quite the marathon.

“Just one game,” they said, and started to play — that was yesterday.
– Chinese proverb