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K47: |
Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Volume 2 |
US$6.99 |
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K48: |
Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Volume 3 |
US$6.99 |
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K49: |
Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Volume 4 |
US$6.99 |
by Kano Yoshinori
The perfect companion to Cho Chikun's Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game,
providing exercises that will drill the reader in the tactics introduced in that book.
The 239 problems in this volume covers the capturing of stones in various kinds of
positions, capturing races, the life and death of groups, linking up stones, and more.
This book and Cho's will give you the essential knowledge needed to start studying
some of the more advanced books on go.
The Elementary Go Series
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K10: |
In the Beginning |
US$9.99 |
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K11: |
38 Basic Josekis |
US$9.99 |
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K13: |
Life and Death |
US$9.99 |
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K14: |
Attack and Defense |
US$9.99 |
For those who want to become dan-level players,
the Elementary Go Series is must reading.
In these six volumes every aspect of the game is covered. Considered by many to be a
masterpiece of go writing.
|
| | K02: |
Basic Techniques of Go |
US$8.99 |
by Nagahara Yoshiaki 6-dan and Haruyama Isamu 9-dan
The most useful book for beginning players ever written. After introducing the basic
principles of opening play, the reader is shown practical sure-win strategies which he
can use in his handicap games. A chapter is devoted to tesujis (tactical brilliancies),
with 69 examples and 50 problems. The book ends with a chapter on the endgame.
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| | K57: |
Get Strong at the Endgame |
US$9.99 |
by Richard Bozulich
How do you win a won game?
How do you win a lost game?
Study the endgame! More specifically, study this book and you will really get strong at the endgame.
It would be an exaggeration to say that most games are decided in the endgame, but for sure a great
many upsets are pulled off at this stage. Players often come out of the opening with a clear lead,
only to see it dwindle away in the endgame. On the other hand, if your opening and middle game are
not so strong, the surest way to stage an upset is to become a strong endgame player.
You will also find that the key to winning handicap games with white is not necessarily to study
handicap openings and josekis, but to get strong in the endgame.
This book makes studying the endgame easy. It starts out with a 42-problem test. Unless you are
already strong in the endgame, expect to do badly. But after studying the 120 endgame-tesuji
problems in Part Two and the 101 endgame-calculation problems in Part Three, you should have no
trouble scoring close to 100% on this test. At that point you will be anxious to try out your newly
developed skill with your go-playing friends, at your local go club, or on the Internet.
One of the two most important skills in the endgame is the ability to calculate the value of a move.
Since you will, in general, want to play bigger moves before smaller ones, being able to determine
the size of various moves will go a long way toward increasing your endgame strength.
In the 101 problems in Part Three, you are asked to calculate the value of basic endgame moves,
such as various hane and connection moves made on the first, second, and third lines, and the value
of endgame sequences that arise from commonly played josekis.
The other important endgame skill is knowing the basic endgame tesujis. After working your way
through the 120 endgame tesuji problems in Part Two, you will surely look at the endgame quite
differently. The book ends with 28 problems on 11x11 boards which illustrate the interplay between
different-valued endgame moves in realistic situations. Studying these problems will help you
understand when to forgo sente moves for gote ones, or when to go on the initiative with a sente
move.
Finally, there is a full board endgame problem in which a professional plays against another
professional, then from the same position plays against an amateur dan player. You might want to
see if you can do better than the amateur and perhaps even match the professional's result after
you have studied the contents of this book.
|
| | K58: |
Get Strong at Life and Death |
US$9.99 |
by Richard Bozulich
Killing isolated groups or finding a way to make two eyes
for them is an important technique that every go player must acquire. Positions in which
you must determine whether a group is alive or dead occur in almost every game, and the
player whose skill at killing a group or finding the moves that will give his own group
two eyes stands the better chance of staging an upset.
In fact, life and death is regarded as so important that apprentices studying to become
go professionals are required to spend many hours each day solving life-and-death problems
in order to improve their analytical abilities. Solving a life-and-death problem requires
the reading out of the solution as well as the numerous variations and moves that the
opponent may respond with. This often requires reading more than six moves deep and
keeping a picture in your mind of the resulting positions of all variations. Such activity
can be likened to mental weight training.
Although this is first and foremost a problem book (containing 230 problems), the
explanations of the main topics make it useful as an introduction to life and death
and it should be accessible to players who have read an introductory go book and played
a few games.
Divided into three parts, the first systematically covers the basics of life and death,
starting with the fundamental concept of eye space. Next, the three essential tesujis
used to kill groups are introduced: the hane, the placement, and the throw-in. In another
section the reader is shown when it is appropriate to expand his eye space and when he
should fall back and play on a vital point. Also included are a complete explanation of
the status of the bent-four-in-the-corner shape and ten-thousand-year ko. The last two
sections of this part present a thorough analysis of the comb formation and the
carpenter's square.
Part Two contains 100 life-and-death problems of positions that arise from josekis and
their variants. In many of the standard patterns presented, small changes are made in
the configuration of nearby stones and the effect on the status of the group under siege
is illustrated in a series of problems. The material in this part is aimed at stronger
players.
The final part presents 64 problems for the reader to review and practice applying the
principles learned in Parts One and Two.
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| | K71: |
501 Opening Problems |
US$9.99 |
by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich
Each problem in this book demonstrates a basic principle of
opening play. The constant repetition of these principles will develop the reader's
intuition to instantly spot the appropriate move in the opening of their games.
If you are a kyu-level player, working through these 501 problems will raise your
opening skill to that of a dan-level player.
|
| | K73: |
Making Good Shape |
US$9.99 |
by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich
Good shape is a subject that has received scant attention
in Japanese go literature. Although references to shape are made in most books,
there are few books devoted exclusively to this subject. However, understanding and
recognizing good shape is important for becoming a strong player and developing the
intuition that will instantly guide you to finding the strongest moves in middle-game
fighting. This book is intended to fill this gap.
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| | K74: |
501 Tesuji Problems |
US$9.99 |
by Richard Bozulich
This book presents examples of every kind of tesuji. The more
common ones occur in numerous problems, but even the less common ones are represented a
number of times. Just as in a game, one never knows what kind of tesuji will arise. It may
be easy to find it, but often it is hard; it might be a quite common tesuji, but it could
be one of those that rarely occur. Going through the 501 tesujis in this book will be like
getting a tesuji experience in 501 games. However, in a game, many tesujis will go by unnoticed;
in this book, each problem will be a learning experience.
|
| | K75: |
The Basics of Go Strategy |
US$9.99 |
by Richard Bozulich
Aji, kikashi (forcing moves), and sabaki are the most important concepts of go.
They imbue the game with strategic subtleties unmatched in any other game.
Without an understanding of these concepts, no go player can hope to attain
a high level of skill. Besides these concepts, it is also necessary to understand
the shape and distribution of stones and how they influence other parts of the board,
determining which stones are important and which stones can be sacrificed,
and which stones must be strengthened before playing large-scale strategic moves.
The aim of this book is to bring together these ideas and to show the reader how they
interact. Many of the examples and problems are taken from professional games so that
the reader can see how the top pros deal with and utilize these concepts.
This book is divided into two parts. The first part is expository, and
the second part consists of 101 problems. These problems will expose the
the reader to various techniques and ways to think about certain kinds of positions.
The reader is urged to approach them as positions that might occur in their own games,
decide how they would play, and then look at the answers to compare their own thinking
to that of a professional.
Independent review: bengozen.com
|
| | K76: |
All About Ko |
US$9.99 |
by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich
Ko is the most intriguing aspect of go. When a ko fight arises,
the calculations and considerations become quite complex. You have to be able to calculate
how much the ko is worth, looking at it from Black's perspective, then from White's. Next,
you have to look at the number of ko threats each side has, calculate the value of each, then
determine whether or not these threats are big enough to induce you or your opponent to answer.
Even if your ko threat isn't big enough to get your opponent to respond, is it big enough to
win the game? Clearly, when fighting a ko, thinking globally is of paramount importance, since
positions throughout the whole board are involved. Ko is the most difficult part of the game to master, but, without an understanding of its intricacies, you can never become a truly strong
go player.
Although ko is a difficult subject, All About Ko simplifies it by breaking it down into 19 short
and easily digestible chapters. Each of these chapters concentrates on one particular aspect of ko,
with ample examples, so that the reader fully understands the concept being studied. The first two
chapters show the reader how to evaluate a ko, and Chapter Three shows what the value of a ko
threat should be. Throughout these and the remaining chapters, example games are given which
show how professionals handle various kinds of ko situations. Many small-board games are also
provided so as to strip away irrelevant local positions, thereby enabling the reader to concentrate
on the topic being discussed. The book ends with 122 problems designed to hammer home the concepts
introduced in the first part of this book. They include kos that arise in josekis and common
life-and-death positions. The first problems are easy, but they become progressively more difficult.
In the final problems you are asked to find moves in positions that confronted professionals in
their games.
All About Ko is a comprehensive textbook on ko.
A thorough study of it will lay a solid foundation for your progress on the road to mastering ko.
It will also give you an appreciation of the profundity of go and the awesome strength of professional
go players.
Independent review: bengozen.com
Independent review: http://www.britgo.org/node/3252
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| | K91: |
Modern Master Games, Volume One
The Dawn of Tournament Go |
US$11.99 |
by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich
Modern Master Games, Volume One is Kiseido's first book,
written exclusively for the iPad. It is a survey of Japanese go from 1941 to 1964,
presenting eleven of the most exciting and dramatic games of this period played by
Iwamoto Kaoru, Hashimoto Utaro, Sakata Eio, Takagawa Kaku, Fujisawa Shuko, and
Fujisawa Hosai, among others. Each game is exhaustively analyzed and accompanied with
historical notes by John Power. Click code number for a complete description of this book.
Independent review: bengozen.com
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| |
K01: |
Invincible: The Games of Shusaku |
US$19.99 |
by John Power
This book has been widely acclaimed as a masterpiece on one of
the greatest go players who ever lived. Click code number for a complete description of this book.
|
| | IP102: |
The Games of Fujisawa Shuko
|
US$14.99 |
by John Power
Fujisawa Shuko was go player of great originality with
an unmatched intuitive grasp of the essence of go. He was the player other professionals
consulted when a fuseki or middle-game problem was too difficult for them. He was a
great exponent of thickness and had a knack for astonishing other professionals with
the boldness of his ideas, especially in the transition from the fuseki to the middle
game. His greatest accomplishment was to hold the Kisei title for six consecutive terms,
(1977 to 1983) defending it against the top young stars of the day.
This book contains all 40 of Fujisawa's Kisei title-match games, featuring his victory over
Hashimoto Utaro in the first title match, followed by his defenses against Kato Maso, Ishida
Yoshio, Rin Kaiho (twice) and Otake Hideo, and, finally, his loss of the title to
Cho Chikun in 1983.
The iPad coupled with SmartGo technology provides
an ideal medium through which games can be analyzed and studied. No longer is it
necessary to play through games in which fifty to a hundred moves or more are
presented in one diagram. Readers can become so bogged down in searching for the
next move that they tend lose an appreciation of the flow of the game. In the iPad
format, the moves are played out automatically so that the reader can observe the
progression of the game, watch the ko fights unfold, and concentrate on the commentaries
that accompany those moves. In this new format, users of iPad and iPhone can replay
moves directly within diagrams. You can also zoom in to parts of the board where
local skirmishes are taking place.
iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch users can buy these books by downloading the free SmartGo Books
app from the App Store, then use in-app purchase.
To get to the SmartGo Books app, click the following icon:
KISEIDO
Kagawa 4-48-32
Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken
Japan 253-0082;
FAX +81-467-28-5811;