Joseki Revolution: Overthrowing Conventional Wisdom

Joseki Revolution: Overthrowing Conventional Wisdom

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kiseido Publishing Company

Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 26, 2023

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Print length ‏ : ‎ 228 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 4906574904

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-4906574902

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13 ounces

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.84 x 0.52 x 8.28 inches

by Shibano Toramaru 9-dan

translated by John Power

In Joseki Revolution, Shibano focuses on local exchanges, in contrast to the predominantly whole-board focus on fuseki strategy of his previous book, Fuseki Revolution. Even so, Shibano's analysis always maintains a global view, as the basic nature of go is such that without whole-board judgement, there is no local judgement. Even when you are evaluating a joseki in a corner, a whole-board viewpoint is always essential.

Of particular interest in Joseki Revolution is his treatment of the taisha, the avalanche, and the magic-sword josekis. Shibano shows how, thanks to AI, these extremely complicated josekis have been "swamped in a wave of simplification."

In Chapter 3 Shibano discusses the merits and demerits of the four corner enclosures based on the 3-4 point. He investigates the reason why the small-knight enclosure has declined in popularity and why the previously shunned two-space enclosure has become so popular.

The book consists of 35 themes divided into four chapters as follows:

Chapter 1. Changes in basic josekis

Chapter 2. The transformation in opening strategies

Chapter 3. Up-to-date information about corner structures

Chapter 4. Looking at the most up-to-date josekis

In an appendix, Shibano examines some unconventional moyo-oriented fuseki strategies and gives some advice on how to handle these large-scale moyos. The appendix also contains a section on the revival of the high Chinese Opening and explains why this opening strategy is strategically sound.