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Introduction to Joseki — Why the Game Starts in the Corners

Watch professional games and you'll see that the first move is almost always in a corner. That isn't chance; it is the result of calculation. Once you understand why the corners come first, you can play the opening without memorizing joseki.

Beginner to intermediate Go · about 11 minutes to read

Why play in the corners first?

The efficiency of making territory goes corners > sides > center. The reason is walls.

In a corner, two edges of the board already act as walls, so you only need to close off two directions to complete an area. On the side, one direction is a wall and you must close off three; in the center there are no walls at all and you have to surround all four directions.

As a rough feel, to make about 15 points of territory you need six or seven stones in a corner, but two or three times as many in the center. That is how much more efficient it is to take the corners early.

So the opening generally goes like this. Share out the four corners → extend along the sides → settle the center last. At the beginner level, simply keeping to this order is worth a great deal.

Where to play the first move

There are a handful of standard points for a move in the corner, and each has its own character.

The 4-4 point (star point)

The fourth point diagonally in from the corner, marked with a dot on the board. It is the most widely played.

The 4-4 point is a move of speed and influence. It doesn't fully secure the corner in one move, but it is quick and has strong influence toward the center. If the opponent invades the corner, the natural flow is to give up the territory and take thickness on the outside.

The reason we recommend the 4-4 point to beginners is that its variations are relatively simple. Even without knowing joseki, you rarely run into disaster.

The 3-4 point (komoku)

One line lower and one point to the side of the 4-4 point. It leans toward the corner.

The 3-4 point is a move for territory. Add just one more move and the corner is almost secure. On the other hand, it faces one direction, leaving the other side open, and its variations are more complicated than the 4-4 point's.

The 5-3 and 5-4 points (mokuhazushi and takamoku)

Points that are higher or farther out than the 3-4 point. They lean strongly toward influence rather than territory. Their variations are tricky, so there is no need to use them while you're starting out.

The 3-3 point (sansan)

The third point diagonally in from the corner — the lowest of them all. One move secures the corner territory. But because it is low, it has almost no influence toward the center. It used to be considered passive, but it has been reevaluated since the arrival of AI and is now played often.

Approaches — closing in on the opponent's corner

When the opponent plays one move in a corner, leaving it alone lets them add another move and take it completely. So you approach to keep them in check. This is an approach move (kakari).

Against the 4-4 point, the basic approach is usually a knight's-move approach. From there the opponent has several choices.

Answer — protect the corner and choose stability. Solid, with little room for error.
Pincer — instead of answering, attack the approaching stone from the other side. The fight gets bigger.
Tenuki — go somewhere bigger. You let the corner go and plan to make up for it elsewhere.

None of these is fixed as correct. It depends on the surrounding stones. If you have many stones nearby, a pincer works well; in the opponent's sphere of influence, it's better to answer and stay stable.

Pincers — fighting back instead of answering

Attacking the approach stone from the other side instead of answering is a pincer. It takes away the place where the approaching stone would settle.

Pincers come in different widths. One point away from the approach stone is a close pincer; two or three points away is a loose pincer.

Close pincer — applies strong pressure. The opponent finds it harder to settle, but the fight becomes fierce and your own stones risk becoming thin.
Loose pincer — less pressure, but your own shape becomes sturdier. It pincers and widens your side at the same time.

The deciding factor is your stones nearby. If you have stones close by to back you up, a close pincer works; if the area is empty, a loose pincer is safer. Play a close pincer while your stones are weak, and when the opponent counterattacks, both sides of your position become weak.

When you get pincered. If you approach and get pincered, you have three paths: slide into the corner and live, jump out toward the center and run, or give up that stone and make up for it elsewhere. Beginner and intermediate players almost never choose to give it up, yet that is often better than clinging to a single small stone and losing the whole board.

The 3-3 invasion — the fate of the 4-4 point

When there is only a single stone on the 4-4 point, the opponent can invade at the 3-3 point of that corner. Because the 4-4 point is on the fourth line, the space beneath it is open.

The outcome is fixed: the invader gets the corner territory, and the side that blocks gets outside thickness. Which side benefits depends on the surrounding position. If your sphere of influence is wide, the thickness is valuable; if there are many opponent stones nearby, the thickness has nothing to work with and you lose out.

The direction you block is also a choice. The principle is to build your wall facing the wider side. If you build a wall facing a narrow space, your stones overlap and lose efficiency.

Since AI arrived, the 3-3 invasion has become common even early in the game. It used to be considered "too early," but the value of securing territory for certain has been reassessed.

How to approach joseki

Joseki are sequences in the corner that are accepted as not giving either Black or White a big loss. They have been refined over centuries.

Yet beginners who memorize joseki often fail to get any stronger. There are reasons for this.

A joseki is only best locally

Joseki are worked out on the assumption that there is nothing else nearby. In a real game there are stones around, and then the same joseki can turn out to be a loss. That's where "I played the joseki, so why am I losing?" comes from.

The reason matters more than the sequence

When you look at a joseki, ask "why is this move here?" To avoid being cut? To press the opponent low? To take territory? If you know the reason, you can adapt when the situation is a little different. If you've only memorized the order, you're helpless the moment the opponent leaves the joseki.

When the opponent leaves the joseki

This happens all the time in beginner games, and there's no need to panic. A move that departs from joseki usually has a weakness somewhere. Find it and punish it. If you can't find it, don't force anything; play solidly and you won't lose out.

Practical advice for beginners. Knowing two or three joseki is plenty. One way to answer an approach to your 4-4 point and one way to pincer is enough for beginner and intermediate levels. Spending that time on life and death will make you stronger much faster.

Life and death before joseki For beginner and intermediate players, the surest way to climb in rank is life and death. 6,125 problems by difficulty, all free.

Three things to remember in the opening

Even without knowing joseki, keep to these three and you won't fall far behind in the opening.

Corners → sides → center. Don't play in the center before the four corners are settled.
Big points first. A wide area nobody has touched yet is usually the biggest. An empty area is bigger than adding a move to a place that is already settled.
Urgent points before big points. If your stones are in danger of being captured, deal with that first. However big a point is, it's useless if your large group dies.

The third is especially important. "Urgent points before big points" is one of the most frequently quoted proverbs in Go.