Life In 19x19

singular wrote:I too am interested in 'shape' because my local positions are more often than not pretty weak. Is Shape Up! really a good bet?

Read these books:
- First Fundamentals (and its shape chapter)
- Joseki 1 Fundamentals (in particular its chapters on move types and local move selection)
- Shape Up
- Dictionary of Basic Shapes (Korean, but language is immaterial)
(Further books are possible but tend to be too advanced for you.)

Keep your important stones connected! (And develop them efficiently.)

Improve your tactical reading ability!

Thanks very much for the suggestions!

singular wrote:How does one study pro games?

for myself... I print them out on paper, then replay from the paper record onto a real board. (I find this more beneficial than using a computer)

Searching for the next move on the diagram, forces me to think about where the next move should be.
And by playing through only once or twice, I've almost completely memorized the game without really even trying. (if its a really interesting or famous game, I might try to fully commit it to memory)

If I see a move I don't understand, I try to play though variations to get a better understanding -- and/or ask a stronger player about it.

RobertJasiek wrote:

singular wrote:I too am interested in 'shape' because my local positions are more often than not pretty weak. Is Shape Up! really a good bet?

Read these books:
- First Fundamentals (and its shape chapter)
- Joseki 1 Fundamentals (in particular its chapters on move types and local move selection)
- Shape Up
- Dictionary of Basic Shapes (Korean, but language is immaterial)
(Further books are possible but tend to be too advanced for you.)

Keep your important stones connected! (And develop them efficiently.)

Improve your tactical reading ability!

Where can one get the Dictionary of Basic Shapes from? Is it still published? If so, where can I get it from that a) ships to the US and b) I can figure out how to read enough of the website to make the purchase?

Dictionary of Basic Shapes
http://www.gobooks.info/jasiek/isbn-89-7067-162-5.html
ISBN: 89-7067-162-5

Try to find a shop with that ISBN.

I usually just go through games quickly(10-15 min. cca) on my computer, and I think that improved my knowledge of shape by a great deal.