Are their any place I can go to learn joseki?

[negapesuo]

Instead of just memorizing joseki, I want to be able to understand why certain moves don't work and how you'd be punished for misplaying, who gets sente etc. and really understand the concept behind the joseki instead of simply playing the sequences. Are their any online resources that goes in depth like this?

[Calvin Clark]

I strongly recommend internetgoschool.com for this. Right now there are 209 lectures on joseki and over 2500 problems that go with those lectures just in joseki. There are lectures for beginners through advanced level and a lot of focus on common mistakes and how to punish them.

I would recommend the "Basic Course" first as it covers the fundamentals of shape without which joseki are harder to understand.

[DrStraw]

I think a good approach is to review your games with particular emphasis on the corners. Note that I say corners, not joseki, because you may not be playing joseki. Go to josekipedia and see which is the first move which is not listed there and try to understand why. Then try to understand why all the previous moves in the sequence which were given there are actually playable.

But one thing to understand about joseki is that they are simply established sequences which are applicable in the right situation and cannot be blindly followed without reference to the adjacent corners.

[EdLee]

they are simple established sequences which...
cannot be blindly followed without reference to the adjacent corners entire board.

[3lhouse]

Kogo's Joseki Dictionary is, as I understand, a little out of date, but I really like it. It's basically just a heavily commented SGF file, so you can open it in any viewer/editor of your choice. There's also a free Android app called BW-Joseki for studying while traveling.

It's a little clunky but it does provide explanations/rationale for moves; do this when you want to favour the top side, tenuki here is very risky for black, even though white claims the corner this sequence is considered even because... etc.

Since it's out of date, don't get too attached to the exact sequences. Nonetheless it's certainly a great resource for your level.

[Bill Spight]

I second DrStraw's suggestion of starting with your own games. If you have a corner where you have questions about the play, look up the sequence in a joseki dictionary or other reference, and compare the sequence of play and the result with joseki. One advantage is that the sequence came up in one of your games, so the joseki is applicable to your own play, another advantage is that you have already thought about the possible sequences of play, so that you already have some understanding to build upon.

[oren]

I like learning through http://ps.waltheri.net/ . There are no explanations, but it does give a lot of possibilities of moves and context in pro games.

[OtakuViking]

I just remembered this channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/weiqimaster/videos

It's inactive, but it has a bunch of videos on joseki sequences and follow-ups that I think is exactly the sort of thing you're looking for. It shows how to punish misplays in joseki etc.


Of course, the best way would be Guo Juan's go school problem system. You can get a free 30 day trial, but I warn you. If you keep at it you'll get strong fast and end up paying for a year of subscription because her system is so effective

[Tapani]

Semi OT, but related ... There is also the josekifarm.com site, it is a playful tool for memorizing your josekis. Just beware that the josekis there appear sometime strange. Form your own opinions.

[Charlie]

To all you proponents of Go Juan's training system: is it really that good? I'll give it a (free) try when I get back from my week of skiing (I found this thread because I am currently actively seeking a new tool for learning basic knowledge) and see for myself but recommendations are very convincing, anyway. How do the subscriptions work? Do you sign up for BOTH the lectures and the training system or are they independent? The way I read the description of the training system, it doesn't seem to make sense without the lecture library.

Somehow, I have gained the rank of 4 kyu (EGF) and yet my Joseki knowledge is basically nonexistent. I think I actually *know* about four possible sequences, maximum.

Even yesterday, I bungled a 3-3 invasion with the identical mistake in back-to-back games!

$$W Left: What I played, twice. Right: What I should have played.
$$ --------------------------------------------
$$ - . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . .
$$ - . . . 4 X 1 . . . . - . . . . X 1 . . . .
$$ - . 8 X X O 2 5 . O . - . . X X O . . . O .
$$ - . 6 O O 3 . . . . . - . 2 O O . . . . . .
$$ - . 7 . . . . . . . . - . 3 4 . . . . . . .
$$ - . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . .
$$ - . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . .
$$ - . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . .
$$ - . . O . . . . . . . - . . O . . . . . . .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W Left: What I played, twice. Right: What I should have played.
$$ --------------------------------------------
$$ - . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . .
$$ - . . . 4 X 1 . . . . - . . . . X 1 . . . .
$$ - . 8 X X O 2 5 . O . - . . X X O . . . O .
$$ - . 6 O O 3 . . . . . - . 2 O O . . . . . .
$$ - . 7 . . . . . . . . - . 3 4 . . . . . . .
$$ - . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . .
$$ - . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . .
$$ - . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . .
$$ - . . O . . . . . . . - . . O . . . . . . .[/go]

Perhaps I only know about two. Or even none!

I feel that my totally-bungle-the-opening-and-read-my-way-to-win-by-resignation-in-the-middle-game style won't work past about this level. Quite simply, at and above about 4 kyu (EGF), my opponents are starting to see the sneaky ladders and nets and snap-backs and are counting their liberties accurately enough to escape my dastardly plans. Some are even strong enough to not-resign and that's also annoying because my end-game is tragically weak.

So, after a hugely successful year of 2017, I am resolved to make 2018 the year of filling in the knowledge -- knowledge that all my opponents seem to have, already -- in the hopes that improved knowledge combined with my over-exercised sneaky-reading, tesuji-finding and trouble-causing skills will enable me to progress. Hence the quest for a resource.

[dfan]

To all you proponents of Go Juan's training system: is it really that good?

I think so. I was already a big spaced repetition fan. I certainly have learned and retained a bunch of joseki (and other) knowledge from it.

How do the subscriptions work? Do you sign up for BOTH the lectures and the training system or are they independent? The way I read the description of the training system, it doesn't seem to make sense without the lecture library.

It makes most sense to subscribe to both, and since the problems are directly based on the lectures, you would certainly lose something by just doing the problems without getting the background. However, you could subscribe to the training system only, and pay for the lectures a la carte.

[potsnpans]

i just found these videos a few days ago and i think they fit the need.

different videos for different josekis and he does a great job of explaining why each stone is needed and some good talk on what happens if someone diverts from the joseki.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW4TDjS ... Q3&index=2

[Gomoto]

Dont learn joseki.

Review your games with Leela Zero / ELF and learn fuseki instead. This way you will learn the correct josekis for the whole board positions. You also will have to learn only the relevant josekis for the quite small number of good recent fusekis (and some refutations for the bad ones that should not be played anymore. )

[Kirby]

To me, memorizing joseki is a little boring if I go about it with that mindset. What makes it more interesting is when I think of it like, "If I'm in this situation and my opponent plays this move, here's what I can do to get the advantage (or at least keep from falling behind)".

The difference in feeling is a bit subtle, but it makes it a lot more interesting if I think of the sequences in a practical way that will give me a lead in my games. I agree with the point that studying fuseki may give a more comprehensive view than just looking at joseki.

Nonetheless, the practical mindset of looking at a sequence with the intention of being prepared to gain the edge on my future opponents is more exciting to me than memorizing joseki to memorize joseki.

This doesn't answer the question in the OP. For resources on joseki, I personally have a lot of books, but if you don't have that resource, I'd recommend ps.waltheri.net and/or some of the newfangled computer AI programs that give you win percentages. GoGoD could also be a good resource. Or joining a program like the Yunguseng Dojang - Inseong has several joseki lectures.

[zac]

To all you proponents of Go Juan's training system: is it really that good?

I know it's been a while, but for anyone else that comes across this post; I think so.
This is the second time I've subscribed to the full thing for a year. The first time I committed for a couple of months, then life got in the way. Now I'm about half way through my second subscription and going strong.
I often had trouble remembering sequences, examples etc. from books, and found it frustrating to have to sift through variation diagrams, play them out on the board, check them to make sure I'm getting it right etc. It just didn't seem efficient or very effective. On internetgoschool, it makes it much easier; I'm finding I'm retaining things much better, through the daily repetition. Not just for joseki but other things as well, like common invasions, reductions, joseki follow ups, attacking etc. There are plenty of problems that remind me of the general lessons that I've learnt; for example one of the step-by-step lectures talks about running ahead/controlling the centre. The problems are fairly trivial, but every few weeks now I get a reminder of the principle via the problems.
For me, having a subscription to both the lectures and the problems is the way to go. Many of the problems could stand by themselves, but I find having the explanation of why a certain result is good/bad, the principles explained etc. invaluable. As mentioned, having the problem sets makes it stick.
I recommend it to pretty much anyone who will listen.