New Book: Joseki 3 Dictionary

[Robert Jasiek]

The book Joseki Vol. 3 Dictionary, which completes the Joseki series,
is available now:

http://home.snafu.de/jasiek/Joseki.html

Sample pages:
http://home.snafu.de/jasiek/Joseki_3_Sample.pdf

Table of contents:
http://home.snafu.de/jasiek/Joseki_3_TOC.pdf

Cover:
http://home.snafu.de/jasiek/Joseki_3_Cover.png

Review by the author:
http://home.snafu.de/jasiek/Joseki_3_Review.html

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Joseki / Volume 3: Dictionary
Review by the Author


General Specification

- Title: Joseki / Volume 3: Dictionary
- Author: Robert Jasiek
- Publisher: Robert Jasiek
- Edition: 2012
- Language: English
- Price: EUR 26.5 (book), EUR 13.25 (PDF)
- Contents: joseki
- ISBN: none
- Printing: good
- Layout: good
- Editing: good
- Pages: 256
- Size: 148mm x 210mm
- Diagrams per Page on Average: 5
- Methods of Teaching: decisions, classification, methods, principles,
examples
- Read when EGF: 10k - 3d
- Subjective Rank Improvement: +
- Subjective Topic Coverage: +
- Subjective Aims' Achievement: ++


Motivation

Among the genres of go literature, joseki dictionaries have the worst
reputation: their purely tactical selection of countless variations
suggests rote learning. Everybody knows that this does not work.
Joseki / Dictionary breaks with this tradition to emphasise
understanding. Strategy and evaluation are more important than minor
tactical variety. Therefore the book explains all the josekis'
strategic choices and reasons in the global positional context and
evaluates their territory and influence. These aspects are so
fundamentally important that the book sets a new standard for joseki
dictionaries.


Remarkable Top Achievements

Among the English language or probably world-wide go books, Joseki /
Dictionary is the only joseki dictionary

- explaining strategic choices for all its josekis,
- classifying all relevant joseki types by their functions and values,
- stating a player's number of excess moves for all its josekis,
- evaluating territory and influence for all its josekis,
- distinguishing equal from one-sided results in general,
- providing all major reasons for decisions in the global positional
context.


Characterisation

Dictionary

Chapter 4 dominates the by far greatest part of the book's space. It
contains the dictionary of 3-3, 3-4, 3-5, 3-6, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6 and 5-5
josekis. Its top level is organised in the traditional reference style
by coordinates of the initial moves. After the very few first moves,
structure relies on a different means: the major strategic choices.
There are decisions such as sente or gote, upper or left side, thin or
thick shape, territory or influence, favourable or unfavourable
ladder, support or no support in the adjacent corner etc. The usual
row of three diagrams shows the prior position, one follow-up choice
and sequence, and the alternative follow-up choice and sequence. Every
follow-up sequence has the moves until the subsequent strategic choice
or the sequence's end. This structure greatly eases both understanding
and learning because strategic choices are clearly distinguished from
minor tactical considerations.

The many inserted game examples enrich the text, show applications in
the positional context, illustrate alternative variations or sometimes
exhibit failures. Those diagrams show sufficient parts of the board or
the whole board for understanding the reasons of choices. Where
necessary, additional diagrams explain non-obvious tactics. Diagrams
for ladders are put right after the strategic choices for such
conditions. As for the strategic choices, the reader need not search
but finds the relevant information exactly where he needs it.
Nevertheless, the book comes with indexes for diagrams and keywords.
Besides there are 33 mostly tactical problems.

Databases of professional games have been consulted to distinguish
modern from outdated variations, identify currently popular moves,
verify the joseki sequences and identify the practically occurring
reasons for strategic choices in the global positional context. Thus
the reader profits from several weeks of empirical research by the
author.

Go Theory

One of the great hurdles for joseki learning is the difficulty of
recognising a joseki's functions. Chapter 2 classifies the types of
josekis, characterises every type, studies typical strategic choices
and provides the relation to relevant reasons for the strategic
decisions. For example, there is the type 'mutual running fight' and
the reason to 'make territory during the fight'. The chapter is as
simple as valuable; its fundamentals are learnt easily.

Have you ever wondered whether a sequence creates a joseki or why
traditional dictionaries do not tell you the why? Chapter 3 gives the
answer by inventing the necessary theory! With a bit of practice, a
player's current territory can be counted. Usually, assessing
influence is even easier: count a player's number of influence stones,
then compare Black's and White's numbers! The theory tolerates small
calculation mistakes. Needless to say, one must also know whether both
players have played the same number of stones in the corner. Josekis
are classified according to their values of territory and influence.
Without a proper balance, a result is 'favourable for a player'. The
book offers solutions also for sequences in which a player has played
one or two stones more than the opponent. The age of alchemy ends -
now everybody can evaluate josekis!

Readers

Why would a player learn josekis from a purely tactical dictionary
consisting of two or three volumes? Surely he does not want to
maximise his necessary effort, doesn't he? The author firmly believes
that a dictionary consisting of just one volume suffices. What matters
is rather how careful the dictionary's josekis have been selected.
Probably Joseki / Dictionary with its 400 josekis and 130 (mostly
professional, a few top amateur) game examples can serve as the only
joseki dictionary a player needs for his go career. A beginner finds
the simple variations, a kyu player finds exactly the practically
relevant variations and a dan player finds the most frequent of the
modern, recently invented josekis. When a player understands the
book's variations, he will be prepared to rediscover or invent further
josekis by himself.

Although Volumes 1 and 2 provide all the background go theory, Volume
3 presumes comparatively little prior knowledge. The essential terms'
definitions of the preceding volumes are repeated. For a truly
profound understanding, it is recommended though that the reader has
at least a rough idea of development directions, sacrifice, large
scale cuts and aji. In other words, a player profits the most by
understanding well both strategic concepts and josekis. Volume 3 can
be read independently, but a kyu player wishing to reach dan level
some time cannot circumvent strategic concepts forever.

Joseki / Dictionary can be used as a textbook or a reference. It
serves the joseki learning of players from 10 kyu to 3 dan while they
get a very thorough understanding. Evaluation adds another layer to
the book; players below 5 kyu can postpone chapter 3 and the values in
the diagram captions. Since the strategic choices, evaluation,
classification and reasons explain the core missing in purely tactical
dictionaries, they can be understood better while consulting Joseki /
Dictionary. Players from 4 to 5 dan can complete their knowledge gaps
related to modern josekis not existing in their older source. For yet
stronger players, the evaluation method is new.

What the Book is Not

Volume 3 does not repeat the go theory of Volumes 1 and 2. Since
Joseki / Dictionary offers the most important tactical variations but
presumes the reader's ability to find the easiest alternative tactics
by himself, probably the book is not suitable for those double digit
kyu players still having basic tactical difficulties. Joseki /
Dictionary does not compete in terms of numbers of tactical
variations, as found in detailed purely tactical dictionaries such as
the Nihon Kiin's Joseki Dictionary. Joseki / Dictionary has
intentionally skipped most of the too complicated, rare branches.


Comparison

++ (very good), + (in between average and very good), o (average), -
(in between very bad and average), -- (very bad), ~ (to)

Property Joseki / Dictionary Traditional joseki dictionaries

Number of josekis o o ~ ++
Number of failure variations - - ~ ++
Stating equal / favourable results
++ ++
Stating territory and influence values etc.
++ --
General evaluation method ++ --
Strategic choices and reasons ++ -- ~ o
Go theory is found easily vs. buried in the text
++ -- ~ -
Joseki classification ++ --
Professional game examples + -- ~ +
Modern josekis included + -- ~ ++
Relies on professional experience / databases
++ ++