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Opening Systematic Classification
    Keywords: Opening, Joseki, SL description

Proposal: for an set of indexing systems to cover all 'opening positions' (really, positions on certain sub-boards with few stones).

Objective: an index that would make it easier to track down patterns, wherever they occur on SL. A search engine to match patterns may also become available in time, but that would be a complementary mechanism. For example, an index can make one aware of possibilities with which one wasn't familiar, a search engine starts from a pattern one already recognises as significant.

Form of suggestion: that joseki and other patterns should be given codes such as cAZAp, interpreted in this sort of way:

c denotes a corner pattern: there would also be side patterns s on a 19x10 sub-board;

cA indexes corner patterns based on the 4-4 point;

Z is reserved for tenuki, so that we assume alternating play as the default and mark tenuki explicitly;

cAZA would be the 4463 enclosure, cAZB the 4464 enclosure and so on;

letters p, q, r ... in lower case would represent middle game continuations (probes, invasions and so on), meaning that cAZAp can stand for the 3-3 invasion of the enclosure, cAZAq the 3-4 contact play and so on.

Charles Matthews


Comments here ...

My concern is that development and systematic application of this type of indexing system would tend to make SL incomprehensible to people familiar with the Go literature in general but not familiar with SL. Therefore I believe that we would end up with something more "average user" friendly if we were to concentrate on increasing the linking between existing pages and building more comprehensive index pages using the more familiar terminology used in other books. This is not nearly as compact as Charles' suggestion, but I personally think that it is more likely to make SL appealing to the majority of readers. --DaveSigaty


I agree that a system of categorising corner joseki and middlegame joseki could be very useful. For example, coded references to joseki could be included under the heading "game information", so that one could search a database for games which feature the joseki one is interested in. However, Charles's proposal as it stands looks a little bit unwieldy: his system seems to be more a way of recording sequences in shorthand than one of classifying those sequences. I propose developing a code similar to that used by modern chess opening encyclopedias, in which sequences are named A00, A01 and so on. The letter headings would be used to indicate which type of corner opening or middlegame sequence is to be found beneath. The numbers, and possibly letter sub-headings, would be used to denote specific lines of play. Here are two charts indicating ways in which this system might work:

CHART A

A 3-3 point openings

B 3-4 point openings

C 4-4 point openings

D 5-3 point openings

E 5-4 point openings

F Middlegame joseki based on the two-space jump on the third line

G Middlegame joseki based on the extra-large knights move between third and fourth lines

CHART B

A00-A09 3-3 point. Opponent plays shoulder hit.

A10-19 3-3 point. Variations in which the opponent approaches with a small knight's move.

A20-29 3-3 point. Variation with a large knight's move approach.

A30-39 3-3 point. Variations in which the opponent tenukis.

B00-01 3-4 point. Variations with low one-space approach.

B10-19 3-4 point. Variations with high one-space approach.

B20-29 3-4 point. More variations beginning with high one-space approach.

C00 AND SO ON!

If headings such as A00, D10-19, F30-39 and such like do not provide adequate space to contain all the important variations of an opening, then the system could be modified quite easily. For example, openings with many variations could use 3 or even 4 numbers, e.g., C100-199 or H1000-1999.

Admittedly, an abstract heading such as F15 does not give any information as to what may be found underneath it, but this does not present any difficulties that would not be encountered with Charles's system. After all, one needs to know his rules in order to decipher a classification like "_c_AZAp" - it is not obvious to the uninitiated what it means. I am sure that once the user becomes familiar with the alphanumeric scheme that I have outlined, then its meaning and usefulness will become quite transparent. Anyway, it's only a suggestion, and personally I'm quite content to refer to joseki longhand (e.g., hoshi point with knight's move approach), but for those who require such a thing this might prove a simple and workable form of shorthand.

TristanJones


Charles Matthews What I wrote above is a response to one part of the discussion on WhitherJoseki..., where it seems that some deshis would like to see systematic. The only way to see if that is worth the work involved is a sample and see if enthusiasm survives contact with the nitty-gritty. I'd certainly not suggest adopting an artificial system to the exclusion of any other possibility - that would be an odd use of the technology here. The other point to emerge from me from that discussion (and the rumble in the Library Lobby recently) is about 'front to back' gradient. What I suggest is definitely right at the back (most distant from the Front Page) and is in line with a mental model of paths leading you in, and somewhat orthogonal index pages which you could call 'deep reference'. But I don't for a moment assume this is a shared vision.


I like the idea of a very precise fuseki and joseki indexing system to complement a more widely used descriptive system like "komoku and ogeima kakari". (For me, some of the fun of Go has been learning a new, foreign jargon; even though I, in principle, like finding English words for concepts we first got from the Japanese, I'll probably always use shimari instead of corner enclosure, just because I like it better.) Anyway, I think a highly precise system for the true hardcore go geeks among us -- whoops, I mean go scholars -- to play with would be a Good Thing, as long as it didn't take over and render the introductory and intermediate material stultifying. There is a fuseki indexing system used since 1972 by the American Go Association archivist, [ext] described here. I've only looked at it a little, but it seems confusing... I don't know if it's adequate for the needs of Charles and co., or if this particular wheel really ought to be re-invented. - TnG



This is a copy of the living page "Opening Systematic Classification" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.