Joseki studies - The slow method
An artwork you will NOT find in IGS's gallery.
For me, studying joseki and variations works best with my small magnetic goban by my side. You can lose a lot of context when book diagrams start to zoom-in to just half or a quadrant of the board. The urgency of a move, or the sense behind it, becomes clearer when everything is seen. It takes a little more time than just reading the book but it sure helps my comprehension.
My way of study reminded me of all those Geisha-studying-Go woodblock prints on Internet Go Server (hence the subject of today's minute-manga above).
Joseki is impressing me as more the study and recognition of vital points in shapes and formations. You can play or omit these points as long as you understand what might follow and (a) know how to deal with it, or (b) are satisfied with the outcome.
Josekis remind me of homework that someone else has already done for you. The pros had apparently tested many of these in matches and found them to be potentially effective. I guess that means that if you study to understand them, then you start to get into their way of thinking in analyzing the shapes and positions. If you study to just memorize them, then ... well, ... you can take that homework metaphor a bit further to forecast the consequences.
Stuff on eBay
Really nice but I won't be bidding on it.I had seen some of these Hikaru No Go sets in photos. They're quite cute. This auction on eBay seems a bit pricey given that it starts at about $30 (and that doesn't include $13-$30 in shipping from Japan) . It might be a must-have for some collectors.
About $35 less than retail.Another seller is auctioning a copy of The Breakthrough To Shodan for $50. That's about $35 less than what I've seen it being sold for at used bookshops. My understanding is that this out-of-print title from Ishi Press is very hard to find.
nannyogg (-) had blogged about this book as she is using it in her studies. This material is probably beyond my reading level at this time but it might be suitable for some of you.
A Howdy to Readers From Cyprus!
That large white thing on the floor behind everyone? It's a go board.Image from the Cyprus Go Association's website.
Nice 9x9.Image from the Cyprus Go Association's website.
The Cyprus Go Association featured one of my minute-mangas on their blog. Glad that you folks found it amusing and many thanks for the link-back!
Go was featured in the pull-outs of one of their newspapers, Politis (site is in Greek). I think the game needs more press time here in the US too.
posted by ChiyoDad @ 6:53 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Hi there ChiyoDad. You are doing a great job with this blog in general, but I liked the minute-manga and couldn't resist linking to it :)
Glad you liked the giant goban. It was inspired by a similar event in Milan, Italy. The picture was actually located on the AGA site.
Keep up the good work!
Many thanks, Nicholas, and more power to the Cyprus Go Association!
Maybe I'll run into you or some of the other members on Kiseido Go Server one of these days.
Was the artwork created by you? It is beautiful :) On the joseki, indeed they are great but I notice that more and more games (professional) and especially amateur games, do not really follow established joseki but aim at destabalising the opponent without mind that own groups are not stable as well, and initiate a fight. In amateur games, this is happening frighteningly often, maybe perhaps there is more scope to experiment than in profession, competitive environment. It then boils down to who reads better.
Hello hdoong! Yes, the homely geisha is another one of my minute-mangas. There are several of them scattered in this blog (all but a few of them drawn on little Post-It sticky notes). It's funny for me to see how, at the beginning, I started drawing rather simplistic versions of my online character. His form has evolved a little since then.
Certainly the idea behind joseki is not to follow but to understand them. Since I wrote this post, I've begun to see them as an interesting way of studying tesuji.
I like studying on a real goban too, even although I don't do it as often as I should. Yes, it's easier to feel the flow of the stones. Of course, I am still perfectly able to study a joseki during the day, and then mess it up in a game at night anyway :D
NannyOgg
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