Hi,
I'm about to finish my first reading of 501 Tesuji.
After Tesuji and Get Strong at Tesuji, it is a big step forward in difficulty.
It was still very good to learn about some moves and get some instinct for where to play even if being sure of the outcome is another story.

I'm about to visit my local go book store and I was wondering about getting Shuko's Dictionnary of Basic Tesuji.
I'm currently 4k KGS and was wondering if it was appropriate for my level and if you would recommend it.
I've seen contradictory recommendations on some websites and would appreciate any pieces of advice (regarding this book or an alternative Tesuji book you would recommend).

IMO, your tesuji knowledge for 4k is sufficient now (if you do apply what you have read). You might read more but you can delay further reading until 1d. Better spend your time for other topics. All About Life and Death is an option if you want problems.

Oh, well, if you really can't resist, read Nihon Kiin's Tesuji Dictionary, every classic Asian 2 volume tesuji "dictionary" and a complete edition of Kansufu. This brings you to 5d or 6d, AFA tesuji knowledge is concerned.

Shuko's Dictionary of Basic Tesuji is awesome, and well worthwhile, but it sounds like you've done a lot of tesuji problems lately, and I wonder if switching gears (life and death or opening problems) a moment would help improve faster.

On the other hand, there's that "10000 hours" thing I keep hearing about, so maybe becoming a tesuji master is good enough to improve for now.

The dictionary is very good, but hey, you're lucky in that you can go there and flip through it first and decide yourself.

book study is good but...
now you need to play and learn how to win (or not lose).
play against stronger players (5d or higher) and try to lower the handycap.

IMO learning how not to lose is a skill only can learn through actual game.

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"The more we think we know about
The greater the unknown"
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The thread is about finding good books and not specifically about getting stronger. Some of us just enjoy the books.

Thank you for your comments. I've gone for the first two tomes : Attacking & Defending.
I may go though Tesuji once again before going another theme. Reading tesuji books is one thing but absorbing the knowledge is another one.
I understand the comments about moving to other directions but so far, I'm following my teacher's advice (who didn't mention Shuko's dictionnary, to be honest). Tesuji is so far the focus, so I'm sticking to it.

You risk becoming over-focussed. It is good to know tesuji, but it helps to know when and where to play them. I'd recommend Kato's 'Attack and Kill' to get a bigger perspective on the whole issue.

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Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207

Check out Segoe and Go Seigen Tesuji Dictionary

Those are mostly out of print at the moment. Good luck finding a new copy of the Japanese edition all three books. You might have an easier time looking for the Taiwanese edition which you can read about in my blog entry here.

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http://tchan001.wordpress.com
A blog on Asian go books, go sightings, and interesting tidbits
Go is such a beautiful game.

Lee chang ho's tesuji 123 collection are scaling from easy to hard. The books are easy to read, no need to master chinese (the version i have) :

http://senseis.xmp.net/?LiChangHoJingjiangWeiqiShoujin

The Slate and Shell four volume set of books by Fujisawa Hideyuki is a translation of a two volume book published by the Nihon Ki-in which is part of a series of "dictionaries" which included the original Ishida joseki dictionary. The fuseki dictionary and the joseki dictionary have been revised by Yoda and Takao, respectively. The tesuji dictionary has also been revised, this time by Yamashita Keigo. It is interesting that such a valuable classic as Fujisawa's dictionary, with its excellent strategic discussion, is being redone. I wonder whether the new version by Yamashita will be as good as the old Fujisawa book.