Dictionary of Basic Joseki Vol.3: The 5-4 point, the 4-4 point and the 3-3 point, Yoshio Ishida and John Power (translator)

This brilliant and original 3 volume survey of joseki, written by a leading Japanese professional, is not only a practical, well-organized reference to help you chart your course through the myriad complications of standard joseki, but also an illuminating analysis of vital components such as tesuji and shape. It covers all important joseki, as well as joseki mistakes and alternatives. It is equally valuable as a reference work and as a primer in the fundamentals of Go theory which underlie joseki.

Comments & Reviews

The Ishida dictionaries were written more than 30 years ago and joseki thinking has changed a lot since then. Even some of the “basic” joseki are no longer considered correct. The third volume is the weakest one. 4-4 point joseki had not reached a very advanced development when this volume was written so the treatment is quite incomplete. BUT there aren’t many substitutes for these books, either.

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I did a first impressions review of this set on my blog back on January 10, 2006. Suffice to say, my impression hasn’t changed. It’s an excellent set with which to study joseki.

Ishida explains with great detail:

• What variations can arise
• How some variations may be used from a whole-board perspective
• Why one variation may be preferred over the other and why you may not want to play the variation or the joseki
• Whether one may lose sente by following a variation and, in some cases, how to retain sente
• Which variations are slack or aggressive
• Why the stones must be played
• What critical points for either color arise as the shapes evolve
• What weaknesses exist that can be exploited
• What countermeasures and tesuji can be applied to the shapes

This set is borderline core-library material. I really like it because I can easily research any particular branch of a joseki after I’ve encountered it; this helps me understand what went wrong and what to consider when it appears again in future games.

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