Bill Spight wrote:
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.
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.