I am excited to announce that a new Book Review landing page has been launched and can now be found in the top menu. In addition, for those who have been checking out the book reviews, you will probably notice that the format has been changed as well for the more recent reviews.

After looking over the old reviews, I realized that a lot of my attempts to be more descriptive regarding aspects like “Content Quality” or “Readability” did not always deliver the correct message I wanted and could cause some confusion. So, in order to ensure that you are getting the most out of my reviews, I thought it would be more helpful if I simply gave the following:

1. What I Expected - As the category suggests, these are some of my thoughts and hopes prior to reading the book.

2. What You Can Expect - After reading the book, I aim to highlight important areas that I think people would want to know before buying the book.

3. My Thoughts as a X Kyu/Dan - This section is for those who have time for a little more in depth analysis as I ramble and/or elaborate about other aspects that I think will be helpful at the time of my current rank. The reason for putting my rank down is that when I inevitably reread the book again (since I never absorb everything the first time around), I thought people would be interested to see if my perspective has changed at all.

Now of course, I can only do so much anticipating in regards to what readers find helpful. So, if you have any ideas or requests for things you would like to see in my reviews that would help you make a better decision, please comment below or contact me so that I can help make the reviews even better!

UPDATE: There’s a small change to the third category since I thought people would find it helpful to see my thoughts on the books as I grow in strength instead of deleting what I previously thought at a weaker rank. And in addition, all the book reviews will eventually match the format listed above.

Overall Rating: 5 / 5 Ponnuki

Basic Information

• Title: Mastering the Basics, Volume 5 - The Basics of Go Strategy
• Author: Richard Bozulich
• Publisher: Kiseido
• Publication Date: January 2007
• Page Length: 216 pages
• Number of Problems: 101

Synopsis

• Fantastic overview to concepts that many beginners should be exposed to early on in their study of go.
• This is a hybrid book that consists of theory along with actual problems.
• Content is appropriate for 18 kyu and stronger.
• Problems are appropriate for 9k and above.
• Highly recommended for serious players.

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It was a beautiful Saturday morning when I pulled up to the Maryland Open in Catonsville, Maryland. Though I was a little nervous for what was waiting for me at this tournament, I was excited at the prospect of seeing friends and having a day filled with go.

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