Go-playing AI programs have changed the very nature of professional go. In the half-decade since the emergence of AlphaGo in 2016, the conventional wisdom of go has been transformed. Opening patterns previously favored by professionals of all levels have lost popularity and some have disappeared altogether. Large moyos have lost out to the thoroughgoing preference of AI for actual territory and its skill at reducing moyos. Josekis have been transformed, with ‘standard’ moves disappearing and their place being taken by new techniques invented by AI. Even some moves that were previously considered taboo, as being crude or ineffective, have been reassessed by AI and have earned places in the standard repertory.

In this book, Shibano Toramaru, one of the top players of his generation, gives his own take on the fuseki revolution. He focusses on changes in the contemporary way of thinking about go strategy: the reasons why popular openings declined, changes in conventional wisdom and new sets of values, and revolutionary new josekis invented by AI.