Life In 19x19

I don't know for sure what you mean by 'beginner' (did you just start or do you have a rank?), but '1001 Life and Death Problems' is the book I would recommend to any beginner. The only thing you need to get to about 8k or 7k fast, is Tsumego (life and death problems) and playing games. You could also ask for game reviews in KGS teaching ladder (room on KGS).

Joseki you can look up online, and most other books will be hard to understand (if you are 30k-15k or so)

You can also find Tsumego (life and death problems) online for free, but if you prefer a book, get '1001 Life and Death Problems'.

Invincible is cool but very very hard. If you want only to rush through games, use online commented ones, and if you really want to study pro games, well dont because you should staret that at about 5 kyu. Probably even later. River mountain go is good and free, and Kageyamas fundamentals are cool(I have read them about 3 times). So, Id recommend Kageyama. One very strong player said that you wond get a lot out of Shusaku, I think it is usable only at 4 dan level up...

You can also find several book suggestions/discussions in this thread: Useful books to become stronger.

TimeZero wrote:Well, I received Invicible today and i started to read up to the 1st game, and I recreated the game on my Go board, and i can see somethings i wouldn't have imagined. Like the opening, even though it's an old opening, it's still useful to know the positioning. In some situations i would have made bad moves. I still learned something.

Good for you!

There are people who think that studying pro games is not particularly helpful, at least until you reach a certain level. But there are many paths to the mountain top. Honinbo Shusai, the last head of the Honinbo House, said to become a professional player, play over 1,000 pro games. (OC, I don't think he meant simply playing through the game records.)

Welcome to go, and

Good luck!

Bill Spight wrote:

TimeZero wrote:Well, I received Invicible today and i started to read up to the 1st game, and I recreated the game on my Go board, and i can see somethings i wouldn't have imagined. Like the opening, even though it's an old opening, it's still useful to know the positioning. In some situations i would have made bad moves. I still learned something.

Good for you!

There are people who think that studying pro games is not particularly helpful, at least until you reach a certain level. But there are many paths to the mountain top. Honinbo Shusai, the last head of the Honinbo House, said to become a professional player, play over 1,000 pro games. (OC, I don't think he meant simply playing through the game records.)

Welcome to go, and

Good luck!

yeah, if you can only buy one book, then any book with a collection of pro games, commented or not, would be my recommendation -- and Invincible is certainly at the top of my list.

you won't be a beginner for long, and this book will continue to be useful for a lifetime of go.

Since nobody has mentioned this, Go! More Than a Game by Peter Shotwell is a marvellous introductory book, taking you step by step through a few games in a way that a beginner can appreciate, showing the fundamentals at work and the thought process behind them. Also, it includes an extensive history of the game. Informative, readable and entertaining!

xed_over wrote:

Bill Spight wrote:

TimeZero wrote:Well, I received Invicible today and i started to read up to the 1st game, and I recreated the game on my Go board, and i can see somethings i wouldn't have imagined. Like the opening, even though it's an old opening, it's still useful to know the positioning. In some situations i would have made bad moves. I still learned something.

Good for you!

There are people who think that studying pro games is not particularly helpful, at least until you reach a certain level. But there are many paths to the mountain top. Honinbo Shusai, the last head of the Honinbo House, said to become a professional player, play over 1,000 pro games. (OC, I don't think he meant simply playing through the game records.)

Welcome to go, and

Good luck!

yeah, if you can only buy one book, then any book with a collection of pro games, commented or not, would be my recommendation -- and Invincible is certainly at the top of my list.

you won't be a beginner for long, and this book will continue to be useful for a lifetime of go.

Although not so much for beginners. Invincible is really for dan players no less.

lorill wrote:If you had money for only zero book, I would suggest these two pdf files :
http://holosys.co.uk/usagi/

Actually, even if you were rich, I'd still recommand them.

Hmm... What are those books, anyway?

I looked at the second book (20...8 kyu) and became confused. I am not so much stronger than the target audience, but I feel this book is not suitable for the target audience. The reason:

- some example sequences (for example diagram 4 on page 16) are clearly bad - a simple bamboo joint makes the life of white miserable on the side, and does not lead to a B2 bomber shape. Speaking of which, descending with 47 is much more efficient than the shown move.

- the emphasis on proverb "don't leave the field of battle" is contrary to many of the other books destined to the kyu audience, that try to emphasis on looking on the whole board instead of becoming tied to the local fights.

EDIT: I looked at the subsequent chapters, and they don't look so bad. So perhaps the beginning chapter was there just to show the bad plays on the level of the intended audience.

Helel wrote:

Dante31 wrote:Although not so much for beginners. Invincible is really for dan players no less.

It is book that belongs in every Anglo-Saxon Go library.
We're talking inspiration and cultural heritage, not pre-chewed baby food.
Get the hardcover version while you're at it!

Anything else you need to know you can find on the Internet.

What do invading Germanic tribes have to do with Go?

Before you can get inspiration, you need to be able to understand it first. I am not saying this book is bad, it's a classic collection, but when people recommending it without discrimination it feels like they are just throwing stuff out without much thought. If you are a beginner, you want something that you can use now and that will help you get stronger. A books that you cannot understand is just a bound stack of paper.

The advice for a beginner to buy Invincible is not so unreasonable, but it would be a book for the future, not so much for now. One reason to buy it early in your go career is that books tend to go out of print and then not be available when you are ready for them. Also, there is so much information on line for free that it isn't necessary to buy your one book at the beginner level. However, a good compromise is Go, More then a Game by Shotwell. It can be supplemented with material in the beginner section of Sensei's Library (http://senseis.xmp.net/?StartingPoints) and www.goproblems.com

Game records too can be found online. http://gobase.org/ (with only a small one time fee you can have access to all the modern and old games on this site.)

Go books do go out of print, but with that in mind it is an unreasonable question on what to buy if you have to choose only one. There are many great books that are no use for a beginner but are highly thought after in the go world. Game records can be found in many places, like software (smart go, go game assistant...) or just free on websites.

A good tsumego book is the way to go as a first book (like: 1001 life and death problems). A tsumego book is more compact than a computer and much easier on the eyes. A good tsumego book is also better organized level wise and theme wise. It is the most 'bang for the buck' for a beginner.

If you had to take one book with you onto a deserted island where you will study go for the rest of your life from that 1 book, then Invincible or Go Seigen's collection of games might be the way to go... but realistically I doubt that this is the case.

A realistic book choice for a beginner is a tsumego book since other basic information is readily available online, or you can ask on KGS/Forum. If we look at it from a perspective that you can find anything online, then the question of which book to get becomes a rhetorical question.

Invincible was one of the first books I bought as a beginner, and I've not been disappointed.

Initially, I got the most out of the history.

And I usually learn something every time I play through some of the games, regardless of my go level at the time.

For those what want history they should get something along the lines of '400 Years of Go in Japan'.

I see what you are saying, but if we are talking about someone who has just started playing and is buying their first book, they are most likely looking for something that will help them get a better grasp of the basics, and not a nice looking paperweight in a form of a book.

What I am trying to stress is that Invincible is not a book beginners buy to get stronger, it is for Dan players. I wouldn't want someone who has just started playing to think that they will buy this book and get stronger by reading it. They will be in for a disappointing surprise when they get it if they think that.

Whether or not it will serve as an incentive to get stronger is questionable at best. For some people it might be an incentive, for others, its complexity might be a discouragement. Either way, if a beginner buys invincible, they should realize that they are buying a relic (for now). As long as they don't think they are buying instructional material for current use, it's ok.

yep, got 400 years. another great book.

and you're right, Invincible shouldn't necessarily be a first book. But the original question was about being an only book.

A beginner first book won't last as an only book. Invincible surely will

Dante31 wrote:What I am trying to stress is that Invincible is not a book beginners buy to get stronger, it is for Dan players.

Here I have to disagree. Some of the best ways to get stronger...
- play stronger players
- study (review/play though) professional games

Sure, a beginner's book may give you a leg up on understanding various concepts and skills and help a complete beginner to progress to regular beginner a little bit faster, but don't completely discount the value of reviewing pro games for any level player.

Helel wrote:A physical book has a magic of it's own. I am sure you could find pirate copies of almost everything including Invincible if you were to look for it. But it's not only about the information in the book. It is the book itself, touchable and real, with the information in it. This is why I recommend getting the hardcover version. But again, I am not claiming this is a reasonable choice, only that it is my choice.

Well said! There is something about tangible reality that virtual reality can never touch.