What constitutes "trick play" and why is it considered bad?

[Mike Novack]

for double kyu player who read some joseki book... it is much easier to play unconventional play that is not in joseki book.
i guess everything is trick play if they dont know how to answer.

But as I was trying to describe, I think there is a difference between a "trick play" and an "uncommom move". One perhaps not in the ordinary joseki books but:

1)A proper response could be derived logically from "principles")
or
2) While normally not an optimal move (by joseki) here the local disadvantage is compensated for by how the overall board is affected.

I would not consider a move "not book joseki" for either of those reasons a "trick move". We need to keep in mind that joseki means an equal division locally but go is a game played on an entire board. You could play joseki in all four corners with equal division of value, territory vs influence, and have a hopelessly lost game. But that advantage might also depend on a non-joseki move made in the final corner (local loss for larger global gain).

[logan]

Just the words "trick play" conjure up images of swindling, of taking the low road, of dirty underhandedness; going so far as to consider that the aesthetics of the game of go are sullied by them. Should one clumsily apply such research and study, one might even find imputations directed against one's character. What miserable soul would devote serious attention to these kinds of matters?

In fact, in the past I too thought that way. That was around the time that I was amateur 1 kyu or shodan.

However, seeing a trick play in the classical praxis of Honinbo Dosaku turned my attitude 180 degrees around. Is it likely that a Meijin whose name has gone down in the annals of history would use a so-called vicious technique, I asked myself, and without even verifying the facts of the situation, I looked beyond the unpleasant nuances of the words "trick play" and felt ashamed of my own narrow-minded thinking. Since that time I have assiduously researched trick plays. And at the same time I have realized that an appreciation of the fascination inherent in trick plays has been instrumental in boosting my strength in go, insofar as it has made apparent the interrelationship and operation of the stones and skillful technique. (A Compendium of Trick Plays, p. 78)

[Bonobo]

Thanks for that quote, logan, I like that view.

And also, I am reminded of a friend who blames the “darned trick moves” of his opponents e v e r y time he loses a game