Does anyone know of a book or website that succinctly lists common openings?

This isn't perfect, but a good start.

http://senseis.xmp.net/?OverviewOfFusekiPatterns

Dictionary of Basic Fuseki would have it all, but it isn't succinct.

4-4
3-4
3-5
4-5
3-3

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I'd like it if I could say: "As a DDK player, here are the 5 openings you'll see the most" but the fact of the matter is, you'll likely see a wider variety of openings than an SDK or dan player because your opponents won't stick to a common or traditional opening pattern. A better page to look at could be General Opening Principles so you can try to play well against whatever strange moves your opponents will try.

If you do want to look at common openings, the list oren gave has them all. If you are really just trying to learn a few, a more succinct list would be:
1. Nirensei
2. Sanrensei
3. Orthodox
4. Low Chinese
5. Mini Chinese

I put these in the order you're likely to encounter them. These are not the 5 openings you'll see most often, but these are 5 good openings that you will eventually come across. I can tell you that you'll see nirensei all the time at your level. But I doubt your opponents will ever play the Mini Chinese against you (you could, however, play it against them).

These openings are all commonly seen in amateur games and yet still occur at the professional level. Currently, the Mini Chinese is the most common professional opening. Sanrensei is probably the least common professional opening nowadays.

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"You have to walk before you can run. Black 1 was a walking move.
I blushed inwardly to recall the ignorant thoughts that had gone through
my mind before, when I had not realized the true worth of Black 1."
-Kageyama Toshiro on proper moves

Thanks all. Currently, I use the Nirensei but I want to spice things up. I like two openings: the Mark II Kobayashi and the Mini-Chinese. I like the former because the non-4-4 corner is nicely secured right away. But, it seems slow. It seems the latter achieves a lot: influence, territory and timely expansion.

Does anyone feel the same about the Mark II? I couldn't find much on the fuseki as far as online strategy exposition goes.

Walked right into that one....

Play it and find out. Don't be surprised if you feel a bit weaker at first with a new opening, that's natural as you leave your comfort zone. If it feels "too slow" to you after 5-6 games try something different.

Your fuseki should be based on things that make sense and feel good to you, in my opinion. For bonus points, post a game here and we will review it. I can (almost) guarantee no one will complain about your first 3 moves

This question is incomplete. You need to qualify it by saying common openings for DDK/SDK/Dan/Pro. The answer will be very different. You will not see many common ones at the DDK level as play will have a tendency to be random. You will see a small set of ones common to SDKs as they learn the more popular ones. You will be a different, maybe larger set, at the amateur dan level. And at the pro level, anything goes.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

A list of common tesuji is probably more useful. Arguably the opening doesn't matter too much until one gets rather strong, the point swings in sdk games are so large as to make gaining 5-10 points through superior fuseki technique meaningless. It's all the one eventually, but it comes down to reading. Focusing on improving your reading will improve all aspects of the game and eventually let you understand the general fuseki patterns a lot better and handle deviations from the standard lines far, far better (which is the main problem with studying fuseki too early, someone going off-script could mean disaster for you).

I cannot completely agree with this. If you develop and reenforce bad fuseki habits early then it is much harder to change them later. I think the fuseki is important for DDKs, but only in its general principles plus a view basic lines.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

Yeah I'd agree with that, I'm thinking of studying Low Chinese variations and similar rather than going over general principles.

I have never studied the low chinese, so certainly DDKs don't need to. If I need it I will figure it out at the time - because I understand those basic principles I am talking about.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

General ideas for study of the opening can be found in

Opening Theory Made Easy by Otake

Fundamental Principles of Go by Yang

In the Beginning by Ishigure

Discussion and reviews of these books can be found on Sensei's Library.

Fer shure!



You are certainly right that the point swings in SDK games are large. They are in dan games, as well, just not as large. But you underestimate the value of the fuseki, when it is easy to lose 2-3 points in one play. The mistakes add up. You also underestimate the value of strategic understanding and judgement, which is what the fuseki is about, during the middle game and even into the end game.



Obviously by reading you do not just mean the calculation of variations. But is it the reading that informs the fuseki, or the fuseki that informs the reading?



Actually, studying fuseki enables you to handle your opponent's deviations from good play. (OC, they are often self-punishing. ) As Dr Straw indicates, the basic principles are what's important, not specific patterns.

BTW, that's why I made the list of corner plays. One of the first things to do is to gain an understanding of the different properties of each and how to develop from them. Then there is the question of how they relate to stones in adjacent corners, both one's own stones and the opponent's stones.

Edit: I said that it is easy to lose 2-3 points in one move in the fuseki. At the DDK level, it is certainly possible to lose 15 points or more in one move.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

This! Very important!

Fuseki, by and large, is not really about memorizing particular patterns, but about understanding the flow of the game and potential for further development. You can lose a *lot* by playing a certain fuseki pattern, and then following it with moves which are counter-productive to the driving idea of this fuseki. And I mean - a *lot*, not just 2-3 points per move.

There is a chapter in Kajiwara (Direction of Play) entitled "Move 2 lost the game" or something like that. I think at our levels (low-ama) it is way out of proportions, but worth studying to see how certain choices in fuseki can influence the rest of the game, even at low SDK levels.

Conversely, you can gain a lot by understanding the fuseki your opponent is playing and trying to develop a game-plan which runs against his ideas.

All in all, I think fuseki is like joseki in this respect - not really worth memorizing, but worth studying, at any level.
But it is also true that at a certain level you get more bang for your buck by doing l&d and tesuji.

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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

I don't disagree at all, it's the study of particular openings in the chess style of study (i.e. study that opening in detail in isolation) that I'm objecting to here. I don't think that kind of study makes sense in go until you are very well versed in the basic concepts in fuseki which require a certain base level of reading before someone can really apply them. I think all the different elements of study inform one another and understanding gained in one will have pay-offs in a different area.