Opening Fuseki Book Question

I’m looking for book recommendations on opening / fuseki theory. Something accessible to a kyu. Preferably free ebooks, but non-free may be good if there aren’t any free options. Any recommendations?

For SDK I’d recommend any pre-alpha go book, because you want to have a good grasp of the “old fundamentals” before you hit dan.

  1. Elementary Series : In The Beginning
  2. Lessons In The Fundamentals Of Go
  3. Direction Of Play
  4. Modern Joseki And Fuseki
  5. Appreciating Famous Games
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Is this “The direction of play” by Takeo Kajiwara? I found this book very difficult and (at the level 1 kyu) there are many chapters that I still have no idea what the author means. The author keeps saying “this is a clear mistake in direction, black/white is playing nonsense”, and then gives many variations where I cannot understand why the result is bad. Overall I recommend against it.

Strictly for opening theory, I recommend Opening Theory Made Easy (Otake Hideo). I find it better than “In the beginning”. Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go has some good advice about beginning. Both might be a bit basic for your level, though.

It is more about early middlegame, but I strongly recommend Attack and Defense.

Maybe what you need is a book of opening whole-board problems. I don’t have strong recommendations for that. I have 501 opening problems which is fine but I recommend hiding the hints. I recommend against “Get Strong at the Opening” which I found very dogmatic (and dated!) at times.

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I’ve heard someone on SL say that In the Beginning is not a great book. idk, I’ve never read it.

I re-read “Elementary Series” once in a while all the way up to 1d. It helped me stay focused. Sure it’s “basic”, but trust me, that’s what you want when you’re still learning the basics.