But seriously... I was soundly defeated by JB, both times. I'd be most interested to conduct a post-mortem.

Would any observers care to offer insight? Are there any particular moves I made which sealed my fate? What would you have done differently?

http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=1414141
http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=1414142

Both games are now over. As expected, I won both games with scores of 64-0.

;)

http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=1414142

Move 20.

This is getting really interesting. JB has conceded two X-squares, but has much better mobility and is forcing me into some unfavourable moves. I think I will shortly have to concede a corner.

http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=1414141
Move 10.

I think F6 is a bit of a weak point for me. If we start playing in rows 1 and 2, I risk flipping the whole of column F leaving me in dire straits.

Although JB has more pieces than me at the moment, his are less exposed along the top and bottom.

http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=1414142
Move 8. JB has just played B5, and I'm starting to feel less confident now that we're playing out towards the edges. I'm wondering about A6, but then that leaves me quite exposed along row 4.

F6 would be a seriously bad move. The only real alternative looks like D7: split him up the middle. :)

Watch the game to see which move I go for.

Non-traditional: http://brainking.com/en/ShowGame?g=1414141

I never play this kind of opening, so I'm playing by feel right from the start. Move 3 was a bit of a guess; I just predicted JB's available moves and decided that the move I made was the "least worst".

Mr. Shumway: I was just joking. I'm happy to play rated games. :)

John Baker: The only caveat is you'll have to let me win at least one game, as I'll be sacrificing my BKR for the greater good. ;)

John Baker: I'll give it a go if you like?

John Baker: Thanks :-)

John Baker: Yes please. :-)

Thanks for the replies. I can't decide if my best option is to just memorize the standard openings, or to play each opening out from first principles. :-)

I need to learn more about Reversi openings. They are my weak point; my first five or six moves are normally pretty random. Any pointers?