Magic on the First Line - A review

[Ian Butler]

Magic on the First Line - Nakayama Noriyuki
Nakayama Noriyuki is the author of the amazing The Treasure Chest Enigma, a book filled with colourful essays, three interesting game commentaries and wonderful ladder problems.
While Magic on the First Line doesn't quite feel as magical as the Treasure Chest, it holds up on its own and it's definitely a more practical Go book.

Magic on the First Line focuses, as you may have guessed, on the special properties of the first line on a go board. That first line often surprises us, as beginners at Go only too quickly find out. Nakayama illustrates the 'magic' that happens on the first line through three sets of problems. Going from Beginning Magic (15-5 kyu) to Intermediate Magic (5-1 kyu) and finally to Advanced Magic (1kyu to Dan level).
The problems in this book are very practical* and quite honestly count as tsumego, whereas the "problems" in the Treasure Chest Enigma are more of a "freak" nature, being well-crafted ladder problems. Extremely well-made, but not "practical" as study material. (or should I say, more limited)
These problems are challenging and focus on the special properties on the first line and in the corners.

The book concludes with some first line magic happening in (historic) Go games, going over Shusaku, Yasui Sanchi and, of course, the ultimate Go Saint Dosaku.

The book is rather thin, with "only" 90 problems in total.

Magic on the First Line greatly profits from Nakayama's style of writing. He offers encouragement when necessary, and is not afraid to rebuke you for your wrong answer, in a style that reminds you of Kageyama (Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go).

After this book, you may never look at the first line the same way ever again.

*As a 8 kyu myself, I have only done the Beginners Magic problems (several times) and some of the Intermediate Magic problems.

[EdLee]

Hi Ian, thanks. Which language is your copy published in ?

[Ian Butler]

Hi Ian, thanks. Which language is your copy published in ?

Oh yes, of course! I read it in the English translation!

[gowan]

There is a nice review on Sensei's: https://senseis.xmp.net/?MagicOnTheFirstLine

The book seems to be no longer printed on paper. Some copies might still be in stock at Het Paard or the like. However, an epub version is available from SmartGo at www.gobooks.com

[Bill Spight]

You might like Tsumego: New Research by Kita Fumiko (1934). It's available online at the Japan National Diet Library digital collection ( http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1137764 ). It's in Japanese, OC, but I don't think that really matters for tsumego. I posted a problem from it here: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10553&hilit=cool+tsumego

John Fairbairn pointed out that it was a classical problem. So much for new research, I thought. Later I realized that her research had been to group problems with the same first move in the solution. For instance, she started with a problem where the first move of the answer was the 1-1, then the next problems had solutions starting on the 1-2, then the 1-3, etc. So she starts with magic on the first line.

[EdLee]

Hi Bill, how to do yellow highlight ?

[Bill Spight]

Hi Bill, how to do yellow highlight ?

&hilit=cool+tsumego

[EdLee]

&hilit=testing, disabled now?

[hilit]testing[/hilit]

[jlt]

viewtopic.php?p=242552&hilit=testing

[EdLee]

jlt, thanks.