Category: Books

Book Review: The Road Map to Shodan, Volume 2

The Basic Principles of the Opening and the Middle Game

Description: “In this book, 20 basic principles are presented. Each principle is accompanied by numerous examples and each section is followed by problems in which the application of these principles is required to solve them. The intuition of the novice player who studies the principles, examples, and problems presented in this book will quickly rise to the level of an expert go player.”

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Book Review: Graded Go Problems for Dan Players - Vol. 1

Graded Go Problems for Dan Players: Volume One - 300 Life-and-Death Problems (5-kyu to 3-dan)

Description: This is the first volume of the continuing series to the popular “Graded Go Problems for Beginners.” This first book is focused on providing life-and-death techniques that are foundational to developing stronger reading abilities as players try to climb their way into dan status.

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Book Review: Positional Judgement 1 - Territory

Positional Judgement 1 Cover

Positional Judgement 1: Territory

Description: Ever wonder how players manage to estimate territory? And with terrifying accuracy? Well look no farther, with the first volume of Jasiek’s Positional Judgment, you can get an inside look at the inner workings of how players make these accurate estimations. It’s filled with numerous examples for you to practice, but be wary, this is definitely not for the light hearted! On the other hand, rest assured that you will be significantly stronger at positional judgment than most players out there if you can master the material in here.

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Category: Books

Book Review: The Fighting Styles of Kato Masao and Seo Bong Soo

Master Play: The Fighting Styles of Kato Masao & Seo Bong Soo

Description: In this X volume of the Master Play series, Yuan Zhou does a magnificent job taking amateur players through what is actually considered “fighting style” in the professional world of go. Due to the chaotic nature that go can take in crazy cross-cuts and blown out battles, it is no surprise that many kyu players might consider themselves “fighters,” but once you read this book, it might open to your eyes as to what fighting really means.

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Book Review: Basic Techniques of Go

Basic Techniques of Go

Description: This book can be considered a broad coverage of the following: opening principles, lots of handicap go advice, brief survey of tesujis, and a brief survey of endgame. The material is quite dense and contrary to what many descriptions say about this book, I vehemently disagree with the recommending this book for beginners. It is suited for intermediate to advanced players. Beginners steer clear of this book!

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Book Review: Scent of Victory

Catching Scent of Victory

Description: In the second volume of The Heart of Go Series, O Rissei 9P discusses twenty of his own games and various strategies that he devised during them. Though it is intended to serve as a guide for developing your intuition in the game, it is a very advanced book that is beyond the scope of what kyu players will be able to comprehend. It should be seen as a collection of game commentary from O Rissei 9P with advanced analysis and content.

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Book Review: Perceiving the Direction of Play

Perceiving the Direction of Play

Description: In the first volume of The Heart of Go Series, Kobayashi Satoru 9P focuses on an important concept many players are unfamiliar with: the direction of play. As a critical component in any game, Satoru familiarizes the reader with direction of play though positions of his own games to illustrate direction of play in regards to fuseki, joseki, and fighting. This is an advanced book that should be read after one already has a basic understanding of direction of play.

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