 |
The single most important task for kyu players who wish to reach dan level
is to master the basic life-and-death patterns. Nothing has greater
influence on the outcome of a game than a blunder that lets a group die
or lets a dead enemy group live. When asked to advise weak players how to
become stronger, professionals without exception stress the importance of
developing reading ability by studying the basic life-and-death positions
that come up in actual play. This book provides kyu players with the essential grounding in the basic life-and-death techniques that they need to develop deeper and more accurate reading and the knowledge that they need to compete as dan players.
|
-
K62: 300 Tesuji Problems
To order
-
Volume Two, 5-kyu to 3-dan
 |
The biggest difference between kyu players and dan players is fighting
ability. Perhaps the most important element in fighting is good judgment
in choosing the timing and the objectives of the fight. However, good
judgment is worth nothing without the fighting ability to back it up,
and the most important component in fighting ability is the knowledge
and skillful deployment of tesujis. This applies to all stages of the game,
from the opening to the endgame. This book is a systematic compilation of the basic fighting tesujis that every dan player needs to know. Very few players, even those already of high-dan level, will have mastered all the tesujis presented here. Not only will careful study of these tesujis enable you to execute your fighting plans better, it will also broaden your tactical horizons by revealing to you new possibilities in the fighting and effectively deepen your understanding of go.
|
-
K63: 300 Joseki Problems
To order
-
Volume Three, 1-dan to 3-dan
 |
This book contains 300 problems that will test and expand your
understanding of josekis and your ability to deploy them effectively
as part of your opening strategy. It will help equip you with the joseki
knowledge essential for a dan player.
The key to mastering josekis is not memorization but understanding. The problems in this book focus on the key points and tesujis involved in josekis. The key points refer to the moves that involve tactical decisions. Should you go for profit on the side or build thickness and central influence on the outside? These tactical decisions come up in most joseki patterns and affect your overall strategy. Working through and reviewing these problems will give your game added depth and breadth and make you a formidable dan player.
|
 |
Volume One of this series started out with problems for kyu players.
The problems gradually became more demanding of the reader's analytical
ability and ended up with problems at the 3-dan level. This volume starts
with 4-dan problems and, in the final part, the reader is challenging problems
at the 7-dan level. In each of the problems in this volume, there are many candidate moves to choose from.
For each of these moves you must consider all of your opponent's responses, and
to each of these responses you have to find a counter, and so on, until you
arrive at the solution. This entails a lot of mental dexterity that can be
developed only by constant practice and diligent study of problems like the ones
in this book.
|
-
K65: 300 Tesuji Problems
To order
-
Volume Five, 4-dan to 7-dan
 |
Volume Two of this series started out with problems for kyu players.
The problems gradually became more demanding of the reader's analytical
ability and ended up with problems at the 3-dan level. This volume starts
with 4-dan problems and, in the final part, the reader is challenging problems
at the 7-dan level.
Taken together, Volumes Two and Five are a systematic compilation of the basic fighting tesujis that every dan player needs to know. Very few players, even those already of high-dan level, will have mastered all the tesujis presented here. Not only will careful study of them enable you to execute your fighting plans better, more importanly it will also broaden your tactical horizons by revealing to you new possibilities in the fighting and effectively deepen your understanding of go.
|
-
K66: 300 Joseki Problems
To order
-
Volume Six, 3-dan to 7-dan
 |
This book is a continuation of Volume Three of this series. It contains 300 joseki problems that will test and expand your understanding of josekis and your ability to deploy them effectively as part of your opening strategy. It is divided into two parts, each containing 150 problems. The first part analyzes joseki from the local perspective. In the second part, openings, taken from professional games in which the first moves of the joseki have been played, are presented. You are asked to choose the variation of the joseki that is best suited to the overall board position, so this part constitutes the study of fuseki as well as joseki.
At times the correct move is not one the standard joseki moves. It can be an innovative move that is different from what is part of the standard joseki canon. In go, such moves are referred to as kiai (fighting spirit). Consequently, this book can be used as a supplement to the various joseki dictionaries currently available. Examples from every category of joseki are presented — josekis arising from the star point, the 3–4 point, the 5–3 point, the 5–4 point, and non-standard opening points. A study of this book and its companion will expose you to nearly 600 different josekis. The key to mastering josekis is not memorization but understanding. The problems in this book focus on the key points and tesujis involved in josekis. The key points refer to the moves that involve tactical decisions. Should you go for profit on the side or build thickness and central influence on the outside? These tactical decisions come up in most joseki patterns and affect your overall strategy. Working through and reviewing these problems will give your game added depth and breadth and make you a formidable dan player. The relative difficulty of the problems is indicated by the time allowances, ranging from “at a glance” to 10 minutes. In general, the shorter time limits indicate problems that call on go common sense or knowledge of style or simply your intuitive feel for go. The longer time limits are for problems that involve considerable reading, the assumption being that you are working them out through analysis rather than just retrieving the answers from memory. Although the josekis are presented in problem format, the reader should not try too hard to solve them as if they were a test of some kind. The reader should not be disappointed if he gets most of them wrong. Many of the variations presented are the product of many hours of analysis by teams of professional players, coupled with experimentation in their games. It is enough if the reader contemplates the problems for the time allotted. What the reader should expect to gain after studying the answers is exposure to new ideas and joseki innovations, and how important it is to think about a joseki not only from the local result but also globally — how it relates to the other stones placed throughout the board. In short, not to be bound by the rote memorization of joseki. ContentsBook One: Joseki Problems
Chapter One: Star-Point Josekis |
-
K67: 256 Opening and Middle Game Problems
To order
-
Volume Seven, 1-dan to 7-dan
 |
In the opening, most players usually have a vague idea of the kind of game they want to play.
They might want to play a tight territorial game or they may want to build a large framework of
potential territory. However, go is a contest of wills and a strong opponent will try to thwart
your plan. Therefore, you must be willing to give up your initial strategic conception.
In other words, you must play flexibly. You must look at the board unemotionally and search for
the best move - the move that conforms to the basic strategic principles of go.
This book presents the reader with a large number of whole-board positions in all kinds of varied situations. Readers must consider these positions as if they occurred in one of their games, and, without any preconceived notions, find the correct moves using only the basic principles of go.
In this book, you will find 127 opening and 129 middle-game problems ranging in difficulty from 1-dan to 7-dan. The first 100 problems are relatively easy: you are given a choice of three moves, only one of which is correct. The next problems are much harder because candidate moves are rarely given. The problems for the most part rely on intuition. If you know the principle, you will solve it. If you can't solve it, you will learn the principle in the answer and, when confronted with a similiar position in one of your games in which this principle is applicable, you will, perhaps, find the strongest move.
|
If you need more information, Kiseido may be contacted at
the following address:
Kiseido
Kagawa 4-8-32
Chigasaki-shi
Kanagawa-ken
Japan 253-0082
FAX +81-467-28-5811
e-mail: kiseido61@yahoo.com
Return to go-book page