Hi everyone - I was wondering if anyone knew of good books on good shape, and a good book on invasions!

I've checked out Shape Up! and it was okay - but not what I was hoping for - and Making good Shape is a problem book that lacks theory. Does anyone have other suggestions? Perhaps Master of Haengma and This is Haengma?

Also, does anyone know of any good books on invasions? Something similar to Fujisawa Shuko's Reducing Territorial Frameworks would be great! Thank you!

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My Baduk Journey

I've got "This is Haengma." I suppose it occupies ground between the two books you listed. The structure of the first half is something like: State theoretical point, a couple of simple examples, an example from a pro position. The second half is discussion of shapes from games.

I think it's a good book, and I haven't gotten that much out of it, just like so much of my library.

Shape:

Theory books on shape are still mostly missing. Suji and Anti-suji offers too little to qualify as a theory book. Dictionary of Basic Shapes is teaching by simplistic examples only.
http://www.gobooks.info/jasiek/isbn-89-7067-162-5.html
Books on related topics such as haengma won't hurt but do not really address shapes. Then there are books explaining a bit of shape theory in some chapter(s), such as First Fundamentals (shape basics for DDKs) and Joseki 1 Fundamentals (classification of move types by shapes and functions).

Invasions:

Although there are some books with invasions and reductions as their topics, they do not really provide anything close to a full theory. The best you can do at the moment is to read everything with these topics in their book titles, be it English, Korean or Japanese books, such as Invasion and Reduction,
http://www.gobooks.info/jasiek/invasion ... ction.html
but it is (good) teaching by examples only and hardly any noteworthy theory.
You should also look at books about middle game fighting / attack / defense, in particular, Fighting Fundamentals does teach quite some relevant theory of invasions and reductions in some of its chapters. Attack and Defense is useful, too, but teaches much less theory. Reducing Territorial Frameworks and Enclosure Josekis won't hurt, but do not expect too much theory. In a broader perspective, it is important to know whether one needs to invade, so reading about positional judgement, such as Positional Judgment 1 Territory, is also useful.

Since neither topic offers definite English books specifically on either topic yet, read whatever related book you can get to approach maybe half of the important knowledge. Also study games to extend your knowledge.

It's not released yet but one of the Kiseido Roadmap to Shodan publications is called

K87: Sabaki — The Art of Settling Groups and Making Good Shape

and should be quite interesting when it becomes available.

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I am John. John-I-Am.

Like much of go, shape depends on the position. Because of this it is difficult to give effective rules about shape. For example, an empty triangle is often a bad shape but sometimes it is a good shape. There are examples where joseki moves are bad moves. The simplest idea about shape is that shape makes efficient use of the stones. Unfortunately this means the player has to recognize what is efficient and what is not. The best way to learn shape is to study pro games since they almost always play good shape. If it isn't clear why a certain move is good shape, try to think why it is efficient. If you can get a strong player to review your game(s) with a focus on shape, you can ask why is this or that move particularly efficient.

I just want to add some books to the list:

On shape there is Valery Shikshins "The Theory and Practice of Shapes". I bought it recently, together with the Tsumego-book. I didn't start with the shape-book yet, so I can't say too much about it. But I am really liking the Tsumego-book, so I have hopes for the other one.

On invasions and reductions I have heard good things about Kim Sung-Raes books "After Joseki" and "After Opening". Since he is from Korea, you might find that especially interesting (maybe he has more books on the topic).