Life In 19x19

oren wrote:From Shuko, you can find used 'この一手' and 'わたしならこう打つ'. They're both pretty good, but I haven't really gone through them in any detail yet. Lately I've been going through Yamashita's book about Tengen as first move and Murakawa Daisuke's book of self commented games.

He has authored a ton of books. Probably all ghost written, but he's a creative player.

Bill Spight wrote:He has authored a ton of books. Probably all ghost written, but he's a creative player.

Very true. I was just thinking of ones I could recommend. He has many many many more.

Recently, I read and enjoyed following books:

- 王銘エン：　ヨセ・絶対計算　Best book I have read so far about yose.
- 王銘エン：　碁は殴るか 構えるか Not mind blowing, but definitely entertaining, especially if you like O-Meien style of play.
- 依田紀基：　依田ノート A bit chatty and redundant here and there but there's a lot of good stuff in it.

If you have an iPad (or and iPhone but I have some difficulty in imaging that it works that well) or now even a PC you may want to start with the Nihon Kiin's "Go Books" app and a copy of Gekkan Go World from the Nihon Kiin. It is much cheaper (JPY 700 or even free at the moment with the PC service) than importing some books. It will give you a range of articles that would help you decide what sorts of materials you would enjoy in Japanese.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have lot's of questions but I'll see how many remain after I've looked up all the books you mentioned. By the way, I didn't mean to say that I'm not at all interested in game commentaries, just that I'm more interested in theory books, so if there is one that you think is particularly good feel free to mention it.

John Fairbairn wrote:This is indeed an interesting book, but the text is important
...
A better book for most people who can cope with Japanese

These two comments have left me a bit confused. The first one seems to imply you are trying recommend a book which won't not strain my Japanese (which is unnecessary because I'm up for a challenge even if my language skills aren't), but the second one seems to contradict that.

ez4u wrote:If you have an iPad (or and iPhone but I have some difficulty in imaging that it works that well) or now even a PC you may want to start with the Nihon Kiin's "Go Books" app and a copy of Gekkan Go World from the Nihon Kiin. It is much cheaper (JPY 700 or even free at the moment with the PC service) than importing some books. It will give you a range of articles that would help you decide what sorts of materials you would enjoy in Japanese.

Free!?

I'll see if I can get it working on lubuntu.

Splatted wrote:I'll see if I can get it working on lubuntu.

It worked on the chrome android browser, so I'd be really surprised if it didn't work on ubuntu.

They're very good magazines.

Have a look at some of the book reviews linked to my Sensei's Library page, "Japanese Book Reviews".

In particular, the book by Takemiya, 24 Josekis, is of the sort you are looking for. It takes 24 very mainline josekis and gives a *few* variations for each, spending considerable time on the strategic goal and associated ideal shape, in each case, as well as whole-board positions in which the joseki would be appropriate or inappropriate, and suggestions for after-joseki play. It includes some punishment sequences for faulty play on the part of an opponent. It is part of a series entitled "Breakthrough to Shodan", so someone at, say, the 5 kyu level should find it a gold mine of useful information; but it is written in a very patient style, so it should appeal to players at many levels.

It was published in 1992 so, of course, it doesn't discuss more recent josekis. Also, it may be out of print by now, but it is very much worth a search. I think it is a pity that it was never translated.

Other books that especially impressed me (full reviews are linked to the Japanese Book Reviews Page), that teach theory via very practical examples, are the ones by Ishikura, Sonoda and Oomori in the NHK Igo series. (Many books in that series are based closely on lecture courses taught by the respective authors in person.) Sonoda and Oomori, in particular, have a set goal of teaching amateurs to think beyond stereotypic principles that they might absorb from other amateurs. The books by Ishikura, while somehow more vanilla, are still absolutely spot-on to very practical things that might perplex players who are within a few stones of shodan level, though they are written for players of a wide range of strengths. All three authors are inspiring and a pleasure to read. (They do require some reading knowledge of Japanese -- the diagrams alone do not tell enough of the story.)

--FredK

FredK wrote:Have a look at some of the book reviews linked to my Sensei's Library page, "Japanese Book Reviews".

In particular, the book by Takemiya, 24 Josekis, is of the sort you are looking for. It takes 24 very mainline josekis and gives a *few* variations for each, spending considerable time on the strategic goal and associated ideal shape, in each case, as well as whole-board positions in which the joseki would be appropriate or inappropriate, and suggestions for after-joseki play. It includes some punishment sequences for faulty play on the part of an opponent. It is part of a series entitled "Breakthrough to Shodan", so someone at, say, the 5 kyu level should find it a gold mine of useful information; but it is written in a very patient style, so it should appeal to players at many levels.

It was published in 1992 so, of course, it doesn't discuss more recent josekis. Also, it may be out of print by now, but it is very much worth a search. I think it is a pity that it was never translated.

O

I have this particular book, and agree that it's pretty good, as far as I can tell. My japanese is extremely limited, but I can make a bit of sense out of the text based on keywords I can spot and pronouncing things in kana to find words I know. The diagrams are pretty thorough, but as mentioned, it only covers certain common 4-4 and 3-4 joseki. It does go into some detail about how moves fail and how each side might intend to follow up, as well. It's a lot like an extended version of the bit in Kageyama's Fundamentals book about joseki and the reason behind the moves.

Thanks, that sounds like it might be a really good starting point for Joseki study.

I'm currently holding off on buying anything because I've started to change my mind about what I want. General theory books are good, but I think it would be more helpful to have books that would complement my current study activities. That means Joseki books to help me review my own games, and game commentaries to help me review other peoples'.

I've found I prefer to review "straightforward" games that I can fool myself into thinking I understand. Does anyone have any recommendations? (Not Lee Sedol)

Splatted wrote:I've found I prefer to review "straightforward" games that I can fool myself into thinking I understand. Does anyone have any recommendations? (Not Lee Sedol)

I don't know if you can find anything that's quite "straightforward", but there are game collection books of many pros out there. One series I like to pick up is the Meijin series games they do every year.

I also likes this one which covered Meijin and Honinbo games when Yamashita Keigo won.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8 ... C%E5%90%BE

Good collection of self commented games from Iyama Yuta
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E4%BA%95%E5%B1 ... gy_b_img_y

and a new one from Murakawa Daisuke that I'm in the middle of now.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%9D%91%E5%B7 ... 7%E4%BB%8B

Splatted wrote:Thanks, that sounds like it might be a really good starting point for Joseki study.

I'm currently holding off on buying anything because I've started to change my mind about what I want. General theory books are good, but I think it would be more helpful to have books that would complement my current study activities. That means Joseki books to help me review my own games, and game commentaries to help me review other peoples'.

I've found I prefer to review "straightforward" games that I can fool myself into thinking I understand. Does anyone have any recommendations? (Not Lee Sedol)

I'd recommend games of Takagawa. Unfortunately there do not seem to be any collections of commented games of his in Japanese currently in print. You might find some at a used book store such as Ahashiya Shoten (http://www.akasiya-shoten.com/). The games in his ten game match with Go Seigen are given extensive commentaries in John Fairbairn's book Final Summit. And, of course, GoGoD has many many games of Takagawa, though without commentary.

A currently active player whose games are reputed to be "straightforward" is Lee Chang-ho.

Edit: Akashiya Shoten lists the two volume collection of commented games of Takagawa which was part of the Gendai no Meikyoku series. Here is the catalog listing: 2195 高川格打碁　上下巻　現代の名局 高川　格 誠文堂新光社刊A5判2冊 昭５５ 5000