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ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF CLASSICAL GO PROBLEMS
Volume 1: "Wangyou Qingle Ji" and "Xuanxuan Qijing"
by John Fairbairn
You want a book that makes learning life & death go problems fun, that helps you u7nderstand and remember all those wrinkles, that makes sense of all those knotty themes, that provides comprehensive solutions at pro level? In short, a book that can be considered definitive?
Well, here it is. This is the first volume of a projected series of problems from the Chinese classics. Japan and Korea often rehashed these works - as did the Chinese themselves, of course - but their main sources were the Chinese editions that go back a millennium.
This definitive volume goes back to the earliest two known collections, the Wangyou Qingle Ji (Carefree & Innocent Pastime Collection) and the truly seminal Xuanxuan Qiqing (Gateway to All Marvels). It thus covers over 500 problems, ranging from superhard to cute. Each one was named. Many are beautiful, difficult, highly practical - or all three - but all are memorable. The names enhance the interest, understanding and memorisation if the problems, while also usually offering a clue to the solutions. The name of every problem is explained here, often in some depth (so giving a unique insight into Chinese history and culture). The fullest possible solutions (over 1,400 solution diagrams) are given on the basis of several centuries of opinions by the most expert players of the time in China, Japan and Korea. Sometimes the professionals differ among themselves! Some problems have over twenty variation diagrams. All known variants of each problem are given. This sometimes means a different solution to each alternative! This, too, promotes deep understanding of the problems.
In addition, all the various themes - around 70 - that occur in the problems (many newly identified here) are listed and explained in the solutions and in an overall thematic index. Not only are problems categorised, but the themes can be seen in order of frequency and thus importance. The combination of names, interesting allusions, and identifiable themes further ensures that reader can truly absorb both the shapes and the dynamic principles inherent in each problem. The large number of variants further allows the reader to understand and remember the wrinkles within each theme.
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 (10 pages) to the text.
The book is in a large and well illustrated "coffee-table" format of 500 pages, and employs colour. It is the sort of book that graces and justifies that expensive kaya board you invested in.
WYQLJ = 37 problems, 90 solution diagrams
XXQJ = 466 problems, 1,313 solution diagrams
Total = 503 problems, 1,403 solution diagrams
Available worldwide on demand from Amazon/Kindle Publishing from May 2024.
[Note that, in some respects, this book is a paper representation of the e-book Gateway To All Marvels (GTAM), but has been signficantly expanded as regards problems, and the Wangyou Qingle Ji section is new. It does, however, exclude the old texts and other GTAM material not relating to the problems.
Volume 2, already approaching the proofreading stage, will present the problems of the Shichi Xianji and Xianji Wuku (both Wood and Leather volumes) in similar exhaustive format. Volume 3 is planned to be the Guanzi Pu.]
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John Fairbairn
It's about 8.5x11" and 1.5" thick. A doorstep, in other words. Foot scraper is an optional extra - 1 left, more on the way.
