The following books helped me a lot to get from 15k to 7k over the past few months:

Tesuji by James Davies
Opening Theory Made Easy by Otake Hideo
Attack and Defense by Ishida Akira

I just read and worked through these three books on a loop, doing one, then another, then another, then going back to the first, multiple times. Each time I got new things out of them. When I started there were plenty of things I didnt understand in them, that I got later from rereading.

Also do some daily level-appropriate Tsumego.



I've read some other books during this time as well but I didnt seem to get nearly as much out of those as I did from these three books. If you get tired of one of them switch to another and come back to it later. (Tesuji is a ton of work to get through, for example. Mixing it up is probably good).

How many slow games did you play in this process? I am curious if you play a lot or just read books?
I seem to be stuck at 11k at the moment and trying to progress through Tesuji. I have finished Opening Theory Made Easy 2 times, but putting the principles into practice is another thing.

I find it hard to discuss the route from 15k to 10k in detail. I think it is clear that you need contact with more experienced players to progress. The Japanese view seems only to recommend some rather basic problem material, perhaps because opponents are supposedly a given.

I would recommend reading early chapters of several books, rather than trying to finish one book of average club level, though. You should try to master snapbacks, and a few other fundamental shapes.

For shapes you suggest the book of 'Shape up'? One of my friends is 1 kyu at Kgs and told me he got 4 stones better after solving Tesuji (in 2 3 months).
He was 12k before solving tesuji.

Actually, if we are talking about my own books, Teach Yourself Go (now Be a Master at Go: Teach Yourself) is designed to get players to 10 kyu. Shape Up! is meant for players 10 kyu to 5 kyu, if read according to the "simple course".

The study of shape interacts with the study of tesuji in quite an interesting way: but there are more chances to play "good shape" in a game than tesuji. How do you get into good positions? By taking key points, and playing better shapes than the opponent. But first you have to learn some basic shape concepts ...

Thanks for your comments! I know noticed you are the writer of infamous "Shape up"