It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:46 am

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 11 posts ] 
Author Message
Offline
 Post subject: Games of Shuei now available (March 2020)
Post #1 Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2020 5:31 am 
Oza

Posts: 3647
Liked others: 20
Was liked: 4626
The most packed go book in English is now available on Amazon.

Celebrating the Meijin of Meijins, Honinbo Shuei (1852~1907), The Games of Shuei contains 133 games with commentaries based on those by a wealth of pros, past and present, all in Go Wisdom format.

Apart from normal commentary, there is a special emphasis on the evolution Shuei's style, famouslt admired and copied by the likes of Go Seigen and Takagawa Kaku. The book covers topics such as miai, his central carpenter's squares and his unique way of beating his opponent to the centre. You can also examine how he became so strong late in life despite many very long absences from go.

You can gauge how much in this this book from the fact that it took Tom Koranda three intensive months just to proof-read it. It my be expensive but it's big - 538 pages - and it will keep you out of mischief for months and months. As well as improving your go immeasurably, of course :)

I say that on the basis of the book's Go Wisdom format. This is my second book in that format, following Genjo-Chitoku. GW format means the commentaries are designed both to encourage you and to enable you to indulge in "effortful practice", in line with the latest theories for optimal learning. Specifically this means use of colour and symbols and convenient layout on the one hand, and dispensing with variation diagrams on the other. This does not mean dispensing with variations. They are given, but are embodied within the text. This is where the use of colour comes in very handy. This is part of what is meant by the "effortful practice" required of you. My favourite comment from Tom was this: "It seems that replaying the variations in my head is doing positive things to my brain - now I can even remember" where I left my glasses or phone."

But there is a further aspect to effortful practice offered by the GW format. The book has an unparalleled appendix - some 40 pages - of go wisdom in the form of technical topics such as thickness, momentum, miai, probes, psychology and so on, each discussed and larded with proverbs and other advice from pros. The idea is that, as you are studying a game, you may think of something that is not explained in the commentary, or that is explained but is not quite clear to you. You can then turn to the GW appendix and find ample help. It will also prompt you with many concepts that you may have overlooked. Furthermore, all the entries for each concept are indexed to the occurrences in the actual commentaries, so that you can examine a raft of real-world examples and so real get to know a topic in depth. Since the GW appendix is backwards compatible (as it will be in future books, too) you can also study examples by referring to Genjo-Chitoku.

One interesting aspect of using the GW format is that you get to see the frequency with which pros talk about each concept. It may surprise many amateurs that pros talk a lot about probes and checks and momentum, but not very much about invasions, for example. And where they do talk about things amateurs talk about, they talk about them often in very different ways.

That's what the book is. As to what it is not, it is not and will not be in electronic format. There is an earlier e-version available in SmartGo format, but this paper version contains many new games, and I have now been able to add to many of the e-commentaries, so that the commentaries portion of around 50% bigger. Of course, the huge Go Wisdom appendix is also new.

This book is also not a biography of Shuei. It does naturally contain much historical context, but for the life and times of Shuei I refer you to the book Meijin of Meijins, which is also available on Amazon. (However, you may wish to note that I plan to re-issue that in the same size as Games of Shuei. This is mainly so that I can have a matching pair on my bookshelf, but the new version will contain some new information and photos.

Games of Shuei is available on several Amazon platforms. The US version is at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1711980242?re ... _397514860. The price there is $85. Not cheap, I admit, but is in line with computer manuals and similar huge books. As with Genjo-Chitoku, the quality of the Amazon production has astounded me. In particular, the binding has withstood a rigorous proof-read, and the book is easy to keep open. However, you will get rather more than the wonky finger Go Seigen got from holding go manuals open as he sat at the board. This is more of a table-top book, but may double up as a door-step.

Samples of commentary and GW:

Attachment:
Page208Image.GIF
Page208Image.GIF [ 133.06 KiB | Viewed 7314 times ]


Attachment:
GWImage.GIF
GWImage.GIF [ 199.35 KiB | Viewed 7314 times ]


This post by John Fairbairn was liked by 10 people: Bill Spight, dfan, gowan, Harleqin, Jujube, Shenoute, SoDesuNe, sorin, thirdfogie, Waylon
Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject: Re: Games of Shuei now available (March 2020)
Post #2 Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2020 1:20 pm 
Gosei
User avatar

Posts: 1810
Liked others: 490
Was liked: 365
Rank: KGS 1-dan
Yes, looking forward to my copy! Amazon guarantees arrival till Thursday.

John Fairbairn wrote:
This book is also not a biography of Shuei. It does naturally contain much historical context, but for the life and times of Shuei I refer you to the book Meijin of Meijins, which is also available on Amazon. (However, you may wish to note that I plan to re-issue that in the same size as Games of Shuei. This is mainly so that I can have a matching pair on my bookshelf, but the new version will contain some new information and photos.


Glad to hear it! I "only" have the kindle series but don't really like to read electronically. I originally planned to buy the hardcopy biography now with the commentary but I guess I'll have to endure a little more waiting : )

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject: Re: Games of Shuei now available (March 2020)
Post #3 Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2020 4:02 pm 
Gosei

Posts: 1625
Liked others: 542
Was liked: 450
Rank: senior player
GD Posts: 1000
Bought it today.

Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject: Re: Games of Shuei now available (March 2020)
Post #4 Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2020 7:24 am 
Oza

Posts: 2493
Location: DC
Liked others: 157
Was liked: 442
Universal go server handle: skydyr
Online playing schedule: When my wife is out.
How different is this from the previous series of commentaries on Shuei's games that you published on the kindle?

Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject: Re: Games of Shuei now available (March 2020)
Post #5 Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2020 1:00 pm 
Lives in gote

Posts: 389
Liked others: 81
Was liked: 128
KGS: lepore
My dog is almost halfway through it.

Attachment:
IMG_2060.jpg
IMG_2060.jpg [ 163.88 KiB | Viewed 7047 times ]


This post by mhlepore was liked by 2 people: ez4u, Waylon
Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject: Re: Games of Shuei now available (March 2020)
Post #6 Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 12:01 pm 
Gosei
User avatar

Posts: 1810
Liked others: 490
Was liked: 365
Rank: KGS 1-dan
skydyr wrote:
How different is this from the previous series of commentaries on Shuei's games that you published on the kindle?


John Fairbairn wrote:
[...] this paper version contains many new games, and I have now been able to add to many of the e-commentaries, so that the commentaries portion of around 50% bigger. Of course, the huge Go Wisdom appendix is also new.


In detail:
The Games Of Honinbo Shuei, vol. 1: 21 games.
The Games Of Honinbo Shuei, vol. 2: 21 games.
The Games Of Honinbo Shuei, vol. 3: 19 games.
The Games Of Honinbo Shuei, vol. 4: 18 games.

Total: 79 games.

Games of Shuei: 121 games.

The book is a beauty. The print is crystal clear and the used colours (in the text) make it a delight to read.

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go


This post by SoDesuNe was liked by: skydyr
Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject: Re: Games of Shuei now available (March 2020)
Post #7 Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2020 6:38 pm 
Lives in gote

Posts: 388
Liked others: 416
Was liked: 198
I bought this week both the Genjo-Chitoku, and the Shuei books, they both look very nice, thank you John!

_________________
Sorin - 361points.com

Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject:
Post #8 Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2020 10:05 pm 
Honinbo
User avatar

Posts: 8859
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Liked others: 349
Was liked: 2076
GD Posts: 312
Quote:
This is more of a table-top book, but may double up as a door-step.
:tmbup:

Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject: Re: Games of Shuei now available (March 2020)
Post #9 Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 11:27 am 
Dies with sente

Posts: 83
Liked others: 6
Was liked: 65
Rank: now 1kyu-ish
I ordered my copy on Wednesday, Amazon promised delivery on Friday, but something went wrong, I was then given a Saturday date and it arrived via a DPD delivery. Amazon were most apologetic and the shipping costs have been refunded as it arrived one day late. Gosh!

The printed quality is very good - if I have to self isolate due to Coronavirus - this will be my book of choice.

John F - many thanks for another excellent work.

John Tilley

Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject: Re:
Post #10 Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 12:09 pm 
Lives in gote

Posts: 388
Liked others: 416
Was liked: 198
EdLee wrote:
Quote:
This is more of a table-top book, but may double up as a door-step.
:tmbup:


It is indeed the largest Go book on my shelf (with Genjo-Chitoku a close second)! :-)

_________________
Sorin - 361points.com

Top
 Profile  
 
Offline
 Post subject:
Post #11 Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 3:14 pm 
Honinbo
User avatar

Posts: 8859
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Liked others: 349
Was liked: 2076
GD Posts: 312
Quote:
It is indeed the largest Go book on my shelf (with Genjo-Chitoku a close second)! :-)
The post-person just dropped off Games of Shuei while I was replying here.
My previous comparable tree-forms were Invincible ( hardcover, by weight ), phonebooks ( by weight and volume ), and tax returns.
style, so far: no serial commas.
Game on left page; notes on right page -- very nice format. :tmbup: :tmbup:
Game result omitted at start -- very nice. :tmbup:

For selfish reasons: if each game's result is moved from the end of the diagrams on the left page to after the final notes on the right page, for better no-spoiler effect, greatly appreciated. Currently, as I replay each game from the left page, I must consciously avoid looking at the game result, which is very close below the figures. :study:

Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 11 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group