Following on from the earliest two known collections of life & death go problems, the "Wangyou Qingle Ji" (Carefree & Innocent Pastime Collection) and the truly seminal "Xuanxuan Qijing" (Gateway to All Marvels), we move into Ming times in Volume 2, with the "Shishi Xianji" (Wizardry from the Stone Chamber) of 1590 and the "Xianju Wuku" (Wizard's Arsenal) of 1629. Together these cover almost 600 problems, to add to the 500 or so in Volume 1.

As in Volume 1, all the problems are named, and these names are fully explained. They enhance the interest, understanding and memorisation of the problems, while also usually offering a clue to the solutions. In addition, the comprehensive explanations offer an enjoyable and often humorous insight into Chinese history and culture. The origins of the books themselves are fully recounted.

Since these collections are anthologies, some of the problems have been taken from, for example, the "Xuanxuan Qijing", but usually the names and so the back story have been changed, and extra (often "better") variations have been added to the solutions. In quite a few cases the positions have changed subtly, altering the solutions. This adds enormously to the understanding of the underlying techniques.

As in Volume 1, the techniques or "themes" have been meticulously catalogued - and also expanded. There are now over 60 identified themes, several of which have surprisingly high frequency (and thus importance) yet have no name so far in English - a couple of these are the "cork in the bottle" and the bent elbow". There are some new ones from old Chinese - the mandarin duck tesuji is especially appealing.

The combination of names, interesting allusions, and identifiable themes ensures that the reader can truly absorb both the shapes and the dynamic principles inherent in each problem.

The modern Chinese characters for each name are given and indexed, and a character-conversion appendix is also provided for those familiar with traditional characters via Japanese or Korean. There is also a very comprehensive general index to the text.

As with Volume 1, this book is in a large and well illustrated "coffee-table" format of close to 500 pages, and employs colour. It is the sort of book that graces and justifies that expensive kaya board you invested in. It is available on-demand from Amazon.

Volume 3, Guanzi Pu, is well in hand.

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8343660968

Three little books of Go for thee
Tea table books they might well be
Filled to the brim in a content spree
Three little books of Go

Everything is a source of fun
No stone's safe, commit to none
Life is a game that's just begun
Three little books of Go.

...sorry.
Take care

PS... and now my brain is trying to trick me, making me chose between either "The very model of a modern Go professional" or "I have a little list".

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一碁一会