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Book Review: Level Up 6

Level Up 6 Cover

Description: Level Up 6 is part of the Level Up! Series that serves as a workbook in private go schools in Korea. Though designed for children, the content and practice provided is invaluable for adults and children alike.

Book Details

Title, Level Up 6
Series, Level Up! Series
Author, Lee Jae-Hwan
Translators, Lee Seong-Geun & Daniela Trinks
Supervisor, Yoo Chang-Hyuk (9P)
Publisher, Baduktopia
Published, “April 29th, 2009”
Language, English
ISBN, 978-89-90965-86-8
Length, 168 Pages

Table of Content

  1. Glossary
  2. How to Study Baduk with Level-Up Books
  3. Where to Dansu (Atari)
  4. Opening Sample 1
  5. Ladder (Review)
  6. Net (Review)
  7. Opening Sample 2
  8. Capture or Extend?
  9. Don’t Play Inside Living Groups
  10. Snapback (Review)
  11. Opening Sample 3
  12. Chokchoksu (Review)
  13. Life & Death (Review)
  14. Continuous Dansu (Atari)
  15. Making a False Eye and Real Eye
  16. False Eyes - Throwing in Twice
  17. Snapback - Throwing in Twice
  18. Popular Baduk Comic “Hikaru No Go”
  19. Chokchoksu - Throwing in Twice
  20. Don’t Play Dansu (Atari) Thoughtlessly
  21. Opening Sample 4
  22. Four Types of Haengma
  23. Next Move
  24. Opening Sample 5
  25. Life & Death and Capturing Race
  26. Opening Sample 6
  27. Size of Endgame Moves
  28. How to Answer
  29. Level Test

Synopsis

  1. It continues to amaze me how they REALLY drill even the most rudimentary concepts like making real eyes or falsifying an eye. No wonder Korean players are so well known for their reading abilities.
  2. As we are now in the second half of the series, I think it has done a great job starting to pick up speed in terms of complexity of the problems while still focusing on the fundamentals.
  3. Even though I never even thought about endgame when I first started learning the game, they already start introducing it in volume 6.

Before I Read This Book…

My Abilities

  • A mid to high SDK (single digit kyu) kyu who has read his fair share of go books and has a pretty strong foundation in the basics and teaching go.
    My Perspective

  • Since I was able to complete the first half of the series without much difficulty, I was expecting this to be start increasing in difficulty but still remain pretty easy to work through.

My Review

What did I enjoy about the book?

  • Even though concepts like false eyes and snapback have been introduced and practiced quite repetitively in the first five volumes, they have no hesitation to continue drilling these concepts and ensuring that they truly become second nature.
  • They already start to introduce endgame! This blew my mind since I didn’t even both with endgame until much later on in my journey as a player.

  • It really starts to break down why certain moves are considered proper. For example, the rationale behind extending after being kicked is to play on the opponent’s vital point.
    What did I gain from reading this book?

  • Polishing fundamental reading and analysis abilities.

  • A better understanding of why certain moves are the considered the proper response.

  • Feeling a little bit more comfortable with calculating the value of endgame moves.
    What style of teaching does the book use?

  • Curriculum Style

    *   Content is organized into lessons, topics, or themes in order to facilitate learning.

  • Primary Learning Mechanism:

    *   Practice problems

  • Other Learning Mechanisms:

    *   Cute and entertaining comics to teach and/or reinforce lessons.
*   Simple explantations that are accompanied by equally simple diagrams.
*   Samples of openings from professional games to further acclimate the reader to full games on a 19x19 board.

    What aspect can be improved on?

  • This is just a frivolous request, but I would’ve liked to have seen a few more endgame counting questions.
    Is this book easy to read?

  • Yes. Other than the occasional article, the explanations are very easy short and easy to understand.

  • Though the series is designed for kids, both kids and adults alike will be able to learn everything they need to know about playing go in a fun and entertaining way.
  • People who enjoy learning things in an easy to understand format and lots of opportunities to reinforce what they are learning.

Where Can I Buy It?

  • Yellow Mountain Imports - $13.00 USD (shipping and handling not included)
  • Baduktopia - E-mail them at info@baduktopia.com for more information.

Other Books in This Series…

Last Updated on July 21st, 2013