Favorite Fusekis
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 12:30 am
I was wondering what kinds of fusekis people like to play. What fuseki do you currently use? What was the first fuseki you played consistently? Is there any fuseki that you really dislike?
Most people I know prefer a particular opening. At my go club, for example, one of the players always plays a 5-4 on his first move as white. Another only plays hoshi stones (usually sanrensei). I feel that what a person uses most often in their opening says a lot about how they like to play. For example, the takamoku player likes building frameworks and commanding the center so it makes sense for him to start with a 5-4 stone.
Obviously I try to mix up my play from time to time so I can learn more about the game than just one opening, but, for me, there is one fuseki I definitely enjoy most: the Low Chinese. The first time I saw it was in "Go! More than a Game" by Peter Shotwell - my first go book - and I fell in love with it. The Chinese fuseki offers such glorious balance and potential and, frankly, it looks really cool. Whether playing as black or white I will usually try to make this formation. I also enjoy the Korean fuseki, but, oddly, I don't care for the small Chinese... Also, I like to modify the Korean by playing the 7th move high instead of low.
Years ago, I used to play Fujisawa Hosai's fuseki (3-3 and 3-4 with enclosure facing toward the other side of the board) because I favored a territorial approach to the game in my early go days. I had no idea that I was playing Hosai's fuseki at the time. It was only later that I found out that was what it was called. But that was the first kind of opening I ever used consistently as black. Apparently this fuseki is considered "unsound" nowadays, but I wouldn't mind pulling it out in a KGS game sometime.
However, while I have tried almost every standard fuseki, there is one I will no longer play: the sanrensei. I do not like it at all. I never like the results of any approach moves when against it and, when playing it myself, I never feel like there is a good way to build from it, even though it is an opening that should be capable of making frameworks. I think the only fuseki that might challenge my passionate distaste for sanrensei is a diagonal fuseki...
Most people I know prefer a particular opening. At my go club, for example, one of the players always plays a 5-4 on his first move as white. Another only plays hoshi stones (usually sanrensei). I feel that what a person uses most often in their opening says a lot about how they like to play. For example, the takamoku player likes building frameworks and commanding the center so it makes sense for him to start with a 5-4 stone.
Obviously I try to mix up my play from time to time so I can learn more about the game than just one opening, but, for me, there is one fuseki I definitely enjoy most: the Low Chinese. The first time I saw it was in "Go! More than a Game" by Peter Shotwell - my first go book - and I fell in love with it. The Chinese fuseki offers such glorious balance and potential and, frankly, it looks really cool. Whether playing as black or white I will usually try to make this formation. I also enjoy the Korean fuseki, but, oddly, I don't care for the small Chinese... Also, I like to modify the Korean by playing the 7th move high instead of low.
Years ago, I used to play Fujisawa Hosai's fuseki (3-3 and 3-4 with enclosure facing toward the other side of the board) because I favored a territorial approach to the game in my early go days. I had no idea that I was playing Hosai's fuseki at the time. It was only later that I found out that was what it was called. But that was the first kind of opening I ever used consistently as black. Apparently this fuseki is considered "unsound" nowadays, but I wouldn't mind pulling it out in a KGS game sometime.
However, while I have tried almost every standard fuseki, there is one I will no longer play: the sanrensei. I do not like it at all. I never like the results of any approach moves when against it and, when playing it myself, I never feel like there is a good way to build from it, even though it is an opening that should be capable of making frameworks. I think the only fuseki that might challenge my passionate distaste for sanrensei is a diagonal fuseki...
the Mini-Chinese Opening regardless of move order to reach there. The board has no memory of previous moves, so once a position is reached it seems odd for it to have two different names.
on 4-4.