Oh, it took us very little time to figure out to start in the middle. It took us more time to figure out what was the most effective response to that. It is hard to remember now, as I haven’t played the game in decades. But most likely, both of us made just enough mistakes, which the other then exploited, that the initial advantaged drowned in the noise of what followed, if you get my drift.
Beginner players do seem to think that playing near a black side is a good opening, but it's actually one of the weakest, but playing it "quite a bit" I would suspect you would stumble on playing near the middle by accident if nothing else?