All good porches need a ladder… 
Hi everyone, I’m the new square squire who is currently 2 dan after playing exclusively square fuseki for the last 25 games. I have a lot to say about this fuseki, not sure if I have the time or short-term memory to write it all in one post. It brought happiness back to my time with Go, so many thanks to @center.square for the inspiration.
I specifically play the center square 4x4 variant, at least for now. It enables great flexibility to:
- attack as aggressively I want to without fearing any ladder variations or the opponent’s potential to develop a moyo, because the square will nullify any moyo or ladder.
- play defensively when I feel I have enough territory (usually after 1 corner invasion or after securing one side)
Because of this flexibility, every game is fun and unique from beginning to end. There are many other benefits:
- no need to study complicated standard josekis
- the opponent’s fuseki training goes to waste, because there is no fuseki more flexible than this.
- If the opponent tries to prevent your square formation, they are throwing away their own joseki preparation, which is a great success in itself – they got sucked into the square.
- peace of mind in fast/blitz games especially
- faster action, faster games: you can go all-out in the first fight (due to advantages mentioned above) and either you win, allowing you to play defensively and relaxingly for the rest of the match, or resign and save time
The only cost is equal to a one-stone handicap or a bit of reverse komi at worst. I recommend everyone to try this out in their games as long as they don’t mind falling down by 1 rank. The corner square variation is stronger and more recommended if you do care about maintaining your current rank.
I’ll be sticking to my center square until I’m at least 5 dan. I’m not playing anything else for the rest of my Go career. There is no reason to, and I can confidently say no other fuseki is more fun after playing Go for over 10 years. Someday I aim to beat a 7 dan with it. See you guys then!
(side note: I beat this 2-dan yesterday, but I played the first corner invasion wrong. I should have cut at P5 instead of O3, not fearing the ladder, but it was a blitz game and I played it safe out of habit.)
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As a proponent of the Sideseki ( which as @center.square had pointed out, it can be argued that it is still a square opening, if you just connect the stones with lines), I want to agree with all your points, but add only one caveat: Considering that the opening is odd, the opponent might also play odd moves and this might result in weird, unconventional fights. If you’d like to give those fusekis a spin, be prepared to have some very worthwhile - but potentially confusing - fights.
But as long as we are all having fun, that’s all that matters. 
I want to reach 1 dan with Sideseki… so far I am heading for 6kyu.
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some more rationale for squareseki I forgot to include in the first post:
- I once read a Go proverb: “If you have 4 corners, resign.” So let’s give the opponent 4 corners and make him resign.
- The square is a solid structure that provides its own territory equal to one small corner.
- Even if the opponent plays 1 stone in the corner, it doesn’t belong to them. Unless they play on the 3rd line, their territory is not any more secure than the territory in your square.
- The center square impacts all corners and fights, providing an escape route and walls to push the opponents’ running groups into.
- So there are 3 main reasons why the center square is good for fighting/aggression.
- provides an escape route accessible from ANY part of the board
- breaks all ladders
- nullifies opponent influence/moyos that arise from traditional joseki
- Go Memes! 🧐 - #4873 by VikingKoala
I had fun with sideseki too! It was the fuseki I tried before I found this one. I beat a few 3-dans with it, so it’s strong. It’s easier than center square because it doesn’t require any invasions, too. But this is more fun for me
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That’s great news! Could you send me a few of the games’ links/sgf so I can study them?
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these were two of my best sideseki games
edit: 1 more, how could I forget the dragon slayer game, using all 4 sides to slay a dragon:
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Thank you very much! I have bookmarked them and I will look into them
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added 1 more SGF to my post above (https://online-go.com/game/80015839). It’s the best feature of playing sideseki – slaying dragons. I don’t think any other fuseki is better at it than side star points. If I ever feel in the mood to hunt dragons specifically, I’ll go back to it.
Losses are valuable to learn from too – there was a match against a 5 dan where I played slack for one sequence in the fuseki and got punished for the rest of the game ( 友谊赛 ) . To be fair, he should not have been given 7.5 komi given the rank difference, but if I had played more timely corner approaches the match would’ve been even. That game showed me the weakness of side star points – it requires playing out near-perfect fuseki to claim territory on the sides that can compete with the corners.
The square + invasion strategy is more flexible and has more unique advantages enabling a fast-action playstyle that skips traditional fuseki, but in exchange you must invade at least one corner. Side star points doesn’t require invading, so if you are not comfortable with that particular skill, it can give you more consistent results.
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I will give it a spin soon, both the center square and the side square… I love trying out new ideas.
Here comes my fiirst effort:
I am playing the modified square, I proposed at post 30, in this same topic.
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@shamisen @center.square So, this game has finished:
If you have the time for pointers or a review, I’d be very greatful.
[18:39]sfas: I have been having some success with that weird square opening like in game 80926153
[12:36]sfas: good morning! I just won a 70 move ko fight
[12:37]sfas: playing the weird square fuseki game 80948609
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someone mentioned your name haha @center.square
animated kifu is a neat feature by the way, not sure why it’s not used more
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So I’ve been spamming center square opening for the past 200+ games, and I’m now 3 dan. I beat a 4 dan today but it doesn’t really count because I didn’t finish the square… I chickened out 
◼️be there or be squared
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[17:11]
KoBa
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Well, the whole idea was working, but I did some “the time on the clock is ending” magic and lost, but I do not mind at all. It was a fun game and the fuseki did seem to work.
If anyone has time for a quick review or pointers @center.square @shamisen I’d really appreciate it.
done: IGA Season 8
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