A joseki is one of the locally optimum sequences available to both players in a corner. Learning the standard moves is just the first step - it helps to keep you out of serious trouble, but it is only the start. You shouldn't blindly memorize joseki and use them as the mood strikes you, it is more important to learn the reason behind each move and to discover refutations to non-joseki ones. Studying joseki has other rewards because its tactics include life and death, tesuji (clever finesse moves), and shape - all techniques that will serve you in the rest of the game.

This book covers basic corner patterns, or joseki, and discusses common sequences based on the 3-4, 3-5 and 4-5 points. It guides the reader through the maze of choices in such local operations.

The present work is based upon the 1982 publication of the Nihon Ki-in'sQuick Study Series: Even Game Joseki Pocket Dictionaryand has been revised and expanded.