Chinese Opening, The
By Masao Kato
Cover show/hide
Details show/hide
| Title | Chinese Opening, The |
|---|---|
| Author | Masao Kato |
| Translator | Steve Lloyd |
| Publishers | Ishi Press, Kiseido |
| Codes | g33, K33 |
| Date | 1989, 1998 |
| ISBN | 4-906574-33-5 |
| Pages | 142 |
| Dimensions | 8 1/4. x 5 3/4. - 210mm x 147mm |
| Publishers's URL | http://kiseido.com/Other.htm#K33 |
Blurb show/hide
THE CHINESE OPENING is the newest of the standard fuseki patterns, yet within two brief decades it has established itself as one of the most popular openings, rivaling the sanren-sei in its appeal for amateurs and professional players alike. The reasons for its popularity are that within the one pattern it combines the virtues of both the influence oriented and the territory oriented patterns; at the same time, it emphasizes rapid development.
The Chinese opening is similar to the sanren-sei in that the third move is an extension along the side, but the difference is that the one 3-4 stone gives it strong territorial potential to complement the influence secured by the star point stone. This flexibility makes it a dynamic opening which is well suited to a variety of playing styles.
The Chinese opening has enjoyed great success in tournament go, being the favourite pattern of such great players as Kato Masao and Fujisawa Shuko when they were at the peak of the go world. In fact, statistics show that the high variation (that is, the third move played on the fourth line) of this opening has the best winning percentage in professional play of all the opening patterns.
The flexibility of the Chinese opening, with its equal potential for building influence and taking territory, makes it an ideal opening for players of all levels. If you add it to your opening repertoire, your own winning percentage is bound to rise.
Contents show/hide
| About the Author | ...iv |
| Foreword | ...v |
| Glossary | ...vi |
| Chapter 1: The Concept of the Chinese Fuseki | ...1 |
| Chapter 2: The Star Point Stone | ...17 |
| Chapter 3: The 3-4 Point Stone | ...41 |
| Chapter 4: Large Scale Frameworks - Building and Destroying | ...64 |
| Chapter 5: The Two Space High Pincer | ...85 |
| Chapter 6: The Chinese Fuseki in Action - Examples From the Author's Games | ...111 |
Reviews show/hide
Review by Lawrence Ku (AGA) show/hide 24/03/2005
| Review Author | Lawrence Ku (AGA) | Reviewer Strength | 2d (IGS) |
| Audience Level | 15k - 3d |
The Chinese opening has been one of the most popular opening styles for the past 20 years. This book is one of the few English books that describe the opening in detail.
In this book, Masao Kato teaches us how to defend and how to attack the 3-4 point and the star-point stone, when you are either black and white. In addition, he spends a lengthy chapter showing us the variations and many complicated joseki for the two space high pincer, which occurs when white tries to prevent black from playing the Chinese opening. In the en d, Masao Kato uses four of his own games from the 32 Honinbo (1977) to illustrate real-game examples involving the Chinese opening. However, because this book was published more than 15 years ago, there are many newer variations that have not been covered.
I like this book because this is the first book that systematically teaches us how to deal with an opening and its many variations. This is the first opening book I read, and it ends up that I use the Chinese opening more often than any other opening because I feel most comfortable with it (due to the fact that I read this book). I recommend "The Chinese Opening" for go players between 15 kyu and 3 dan.
Review by David Carlton show/hide
| Review Author | David Carlton | Reviewer Strength | 1 kyu |
| Author's Email | carlton@bactrian.org | website | http://www.bactrian.org/~carlton/ |
This is a book on the Chinese opening. In algebraic notion, black's first three moves are Q16, Q3, and then either Q9 or R9. It's supposed to be somewhat balanced between influence and territory, so it's not as biased towards influence as is, say, the sanren-sei. The chapters in the book are on The Concept of the Chinese Fuseki, The Star-Point Stone, The 3-4 Point Stone, Large-Scale Frameworks - Building and Destroying, The Two-Space High Pincer, and The Chinese Fuseki in Action.
I haven't played the Chinese opening much, so I don't have a lot to say about this book; if you're interested in playing the Chinese opening, it does seem like a good book. The section on the magic sword joseki is useful for anybody, especially since it's not covered in 38 Basic Joseki. (It is covered in Ishida's dictionary.) This book has just been reprinted by Kiseido.