A new version of the GoGoD database is now available (October 2019), with almost 106,000 games. These include quite a lot of very old items, including the newly discovered games of Dochi, Jowa etc. Still plenty more to come!

I waited a long time for this update to ensure the available version matched the Elf analysis files as exactly as possible, but I think that project has now run its course.

Following requests here and elsewhere I have also made the old GoGoD Encyclopaedia html files available, on an entirely as-is basis. Please note that these are still copyrighted.

See https://gogodonline.co.uk/

Thanks for your work on the database.

1 min to unzip, 8 min to update Kombilo database (Ryzen 3600)

Thanks you, but why the bundle is 30 USD on the home page and $35.00 on checkout ?

...and the Encyclopedia is 15 USD on the home page and $20.00 on checkout.

Edit 30/10/2019 : the price is now the same on checkout (bundle=$30.00)

Did work for me without the checkout problem described. Perhaps related to payment variant.

Same here. Did buy it anyway ^^

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Export tax, just start to buy our airplanes again.

Payed exactly 18,81€ = 20.00$ for the database

$30 here, downloading from Australia. Does it possibly vary by country, depending on local tax?

I like it that the terms and conditions are only 30 words long, no messing about here :-)

Many thanks John for continuing to share the database in this format. Hopefully this time round we can beat 1% of SmartGo sales?

For those who successfully completed the purchase, how did the download work? I paid by PayPal a couple of days ago but didn't receive any email other than my PayPal receipt (I did check my spam folder), and was taken to a page that said "Purchase Confirmation" but didn't have any additional info besides confirmation of my purchase. An email to the address listed on the web page for support has not been answered (yet!). Sorry to clutter up the thread; I'd send a PM to John but I know he has those turned off, understandably. Hopefully he will see this and have an idea of what might be going on.

Check your spamfilter for an email: GoGoD - Your Order #...

perhaps?

Couple of days is bad, because the download is only valid for 48 hours. But I am sure there will be a solution for you.

I too had a problem with the order process. In the FAQ there is an email address:

"Send us an email to gogodonline@gmail.com or message us through twitter @GoGoDonline"

In my case I successfully paid with Paypal 30 minutes ago and it returned me to the GoGodOnline website, but that showed my payment as "Pending". In previous years it showed my payment as "Complete" and there were five blue buttons for "Readme", Download etc etc This time there was no way to download the data and no email, other than from Paypal

So I think there is a bug and hopefully my email will get a reply and the gremlin will be sorted.

HTH - John Tilley

Thanks John, that is exactly the case I find myself in. My email has not been replied to yet but I just sent it yesterday.

(As I mentioned in my original comment, I have checked my spam folder.)

My daughter and son-in-law run the site, not me, but they do know about the problem from me. The programming half of the duo is not yet home from work so I can't say much more than that at the moment, but I'm sure he'll fix everything soon.

Personally I blame those people who asked for the Encyclopaedia...

I just received an email reply acknowledging the issue, followed by a receipt with download links, which I am currently using successfully. Thanks to all for their help. Hopefully John Tilley's experience will be similar.

I have paid $30 but have nothing to show for it after ten days. I have not received a reply to either of my two emails and my previous post - which explains the problem.

I imagine John F is busy with Shuei, but please can you ask your "programming support" to resolve this.

I am guessing that if I had an account it might be possible to resolve this myself, but I don't have one.

John Tilley

John

Bums have been kicked. I did report this problem earlier and was told it had been processed as usual (i.e. a reply/receipt had been sent to you), so it was assumed it was just a matter of you being patient till the mail arrived.

I don't why there has nevertheless been some sort of derailment. The issue of the new database coincided with a major leak in my daughter's roof, which caused panic for a while. But that's been fixed so minds should be clear again. I have (metaphorically) also used my brogues to administer said kick as I was wearing them for a Ball last night and they have Blakeys fitted.

You are right about Shuei. It's been a millstone round my neck. But today is a nice sunny day and I'm working on proof-reading the last four games. The next stage is that they go to Tom Koranda for a final proofing. But I have a question (for everyone) that has left me feeling like Buradin's ass.

The book will be physical huge, and by far the densest go book ever in English (133 game commentaries; I can't really imagine anyone wanting to try to beat the record - if you are thinking about, I advise you to preserve your sanity).

It comes to 528 pages, "letter size" (close to A4). Theoretically that should be printable as a single Amazon book, I gather. But it may need a crane to lift it, or at least few visits to the gym.

It is possible to divide into two volumes, but that will increase the expense considerably. It will already be expensive anyway. A big reason for the extra expense is that it will be necessary to include the Go Wisdom appendix/index in both volumes for those who just buy one volume. That would add some 40 pages. For those who buy both volumes there will be some resentment, I imagine.

My personal preference is a single book. I rather like the idea of having a coffee table book that makes the table worry about its future

Income for me is hardly the issue. The deadline for my tax return was 31 October, so figures are fresh in my mind. I don't mind revealing that my income for ALL my go books on Amazon last year was £180.76 (that a bit over $200 or 200 euros), all of which was probably more than wiped out by buying printer cartridges and proof copies from Amazon. So switching to 2 volumes instead of 1 and possibly getting a bit extra profit that way is not an argument that carry any weight with me.

Pirates are the problem. By chance I came across a site recently that was offering my Meijin of Meijins (Shuei's biography) for free download. Illegally, of course, despite apparently being backed by a major American newspaper. I wrote to the address given for those who felt their copyright was being infringed. Of course I got no reply, as is usual with such sites. The Wayback Machine or whatever is called is similar. They all make you go through a million hoops to make your case, so I haven't bothered to try in most cases.

In the case of M of M, there were apparently over 5,000 downloads "so far" and I got a 5-star rating. There were gushing comments posted by users: "I've been waiting for this book for ages!" OK, so why didn't you buy a copy, young lady? I long gave up counting how many copies I've sold over the several years it's been out, but I think it's only barely crept over the 100 mark.

I imagine Robert must have a similar problem as I've seen his books offered in various places, and I do know Richard Bozulich/Kiseido has the same problem big time.

It didn't seem to matter quite so much when western go players were an identifiable community and you could take the attitude of letting the sharing suffice as the guerdon. But the modern mass of go players is too diffuse for my taste. Even here, my old bugbear of anonymous handles eats away at my inclination to do anything. (Yes, I know it's a generational thing.)

PS As I type I have just been beeped with the following message:



I hear from elsewhere that spam seems to be becoming more and more erratic (as big internet companies try to take more and more control of our data???). But that's a generational thing, too. I used to eat Spam, and didn't regard it as junk.

That sounds just about 25% bigger than Genjo-Chitoku, so judging from my copy of that it seems physically reasonable to make it a single large volume.

John - Thanks for "asking" "programming support" to resolve this.

Publish the Shuei book in one volume. Your Genjo-Chitoku is 459 pages, Relentless was 601 pages - so Shuei should not be a problem. I am looking forward to reading it.

Best Wishes - John

I'm with you and the others in also prefering one volume : )

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Since you've asked for feedback, let me cast a mild vote in the 2-volume camp. (I saw mild because the format isn't a deal-breaker, I give priority to good quality content.)

For me, "Invincible" is already a little on the large side, and "Relentless" is just ridiculous. The 1971 Honinbo Tournament is a fine size for a go book: it makes me feel inclined to linger, ponder and re-read, rather than desperately turn the page wondering if I'll make it to the end in this lifetime :-) Don't get me wrong, I really am enjoying my recently-arrived copy of Genjo-Chitoku, but I'm also slowed down by the necessity of clearing the table and making space to put the book next to a board, as well as bending my knees and lifting carefully with both hands.

Actually I'd prefer to buy such tomes as PDFs (although I understand that the piracy is getting to you -- I'll say more on that soon). I'm not generally a fan of ebooks, I like seeing "old friends" on my physical bookshelf, but it's easy to open the PDF on a tablet and prop it up on a lightweight book stand.

If it's any consolation, the numbers are greatly inflated. I still sometimes post classical music for free on my web site. I was initially appalled, and am now amused, to see a lot of it being copied onto Chinese ringtone sites. I don't think too many people view Chopin's Berceuse (direct link to my mp3, the authorised version) as suitable ringtone material, but it's there alongside all the pop music jingles. What happens is that someone will write a bot to scrape any mp3s they can find, and copy them to a ringtone site. Then someone else writes their own bot and steals the already-stolen goods from one site to post them on another site. And someone else writes another bot to steal both stolen versions and ... Multiple copies with no humans ever consuming the product.

Also, some people seem to view downloading as a sport in its own right. I can think of people who download several dozen movies every month, but only have time to watch one or two. And an old colleague of mine found a few thousand mathematics textbooks online. I don't believe he ever read more than twenty of them, but he collected the whole lot "because they were there".

Some of the file sharing sites are outright scams. I couldn't find the specific one you've described, but there's another site out there offering M of M with the comment "Your credit card number is needed to understand that you are a real person, not a robot!" What do you think will happen to anyone who's naive enough to type in their credit card details to get a "free" book?

That "5,000 downloads" (plus similar from other sites) probably represents no more than 20 lost sales. That's 20 more than it should be, but not as appalling as it first looks.