Chuck Uherske
United States
Rockville
Maryland
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Ben and I were the first to arrive at Cafe Mayorga. I'd called a short-notice game day, and Ben and Kelly very flexibly came by despite the last-minute nature of the event.
I persuaded Ben to play a quick game of Focus while we waited for Kelly. I'd been feeling my oats a bit after beating my in-laws consistently at the game, and I felt like I was beginning to understand it.
When Kelly arrived, I was in good shape. Ben suggested that we wrap up the game and start playing with Kelly, as he sensed an drubbing was about to commence. So did I.
I asked to play the game out, however, to avenge my previous loss to Ben. And I got careless, assuming that I had the win.
I had an advantage in board position, reserves, and in captures, but Ben began using his reserves to reclaim a good board position. I let him do it, reasoning that it was better to let him use up his reserves while I hung on to mine. Stupid moves on my part. Ben was able to use his reserves to pass me up in both captures and reserves. Before I realized what was happening, I was down by more than I could recover.
Lesson learned: if you have an edge and an opponent is willing to go through the motions of alternately capping a big stack, do it. If you fail to do it, he'll usually generate more additional power than he's spending.
I fought on for a while but vainly. Gotta pay more attention next time.
Still love the game.
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