Jōseki

The concept of "balance", here, often refers to an equitable trade-off between securing territory in the corner versus making good thickness toward the sides and the center.

Jōseki are not fixed but comprise patterns that have gained acceptance in professional games; they constitute a consensus that may change with certain caveats.

Hence, the basic definition may be misleading for new players in that a jōseki can be misconstrued as foolproof and unalterable and as optimal for all situations.

[2] Hence, the study of jōseki is regarded as a double-edged sword and useful only if learned by understanding the principles behind each move, instead of by rote.

Just as using an improper tool in machinery can be devastating, choosing the wrong jōseki can easily be worse than improvising one's own moves.

Rui Naiwei similarly remarked that "playing joseki is easy [but] choosing the right one [in a game] is hard."

[citation needed] In shogi, typically the beginning of the games (序盤 joban) consists of a number of relatively fixed series of moves for both players.

[4] Jōsekis are typically developed by professional players as a result of their individual research and actual games.