Life In 19x19

Anyone here read the Tesuji Dictionary, Impressions?

Haven't read it, but the reviews and sample pages (Slate and Shell has sample pages for each of the four volumes, so you get quite a bit just from that) convinced me that these books are awesome and a must have, so I ordered the four volumes and now I'm waiting for them to arrive.

Andd wrote:Anyone here read the Tesuji Dictionary, Impressions?

I've skimmed through the four volumes, and my impression is that it is very tough (I am around 6k, so we're similar in strength). This dictionary is still on my to-do-list and I will start to learn the tesuji when I am back from hiatus.

i order the 4 volumes few days ago and they will arrive on Dec 23, i didnt find much information about this books so i hope they are as good as they look in the sample pages

Awesome books. Above my head, but I read them a bit more than a year ago and got a lot out of them. Something to reread every couple of years; you'll learn new stuff as you get stronger.

The sample pages sure were convincing, I just ordered the first 2 volumes. Here's hoping they come soon, I'm already anxious to go through them, since the sample pages showed me situations that have come up in games recently.

too difficult for me. But it's a nice book, from the little bit that i could understand.

Very good books, but I think the intended audience is mid dan or higher.

nagano wrote:Very good books, but I think the intended audience is mid dan or higher.

That's funny, I thought the intended audience was SDK or higher.

Seriously, I think a 4-5 dan would be aware of almost everything in volume 1 already. 2-4, probably also, but I haven't finished perusing volumes 3 and 4 (and I need to go over 2 again) so my impressions there aren't as firm.

nagano wrote:Very good books, but I think the intended audience is mid dan or higher.

Well, as an SDK (I was 6K when I read the books), I got a lot out of it. I'd say the first couple of books were easier, in that I found enough answers to not be frustrated. The last two were clearly more difficult.

I also got a lot out of Vols 1 and 2 (I don't own 4 yet) as an SDK, but I realise now how much I thought I'd understood but didn't quite "get" when I first read them. I find the books quite dry, but very rich in good material if you don't mind that. A really excellent collection of effective tesujis for different positions.

Dry, yes, because it's just commented problems. But there are some really awesome problems. I remember well when I was reading them in the summer, outdoors, in 2009... Every few pages I'd come across a problem, see the solution, and think, "That is so awesome!"

In fact, this thread has prompted me to go through those books again. Thanks.

These books are one of the most important contributions to go literature in English. They are written by a brilliant master and, even though titled as a "dictionary", they are far from just a collection of problems. Rather than crank out just another collection of tesuji problems, Fujisawa took the trouble to think about how to play in various situations and actually explain it. As a result these books can benefit everyone from SDK up to very high dan players. I wouldn't take it for granted that, say, 5-dans would know most of what is in these books. Especially volumes 3 and 4 (volume 2 of the Japanese edition which is what I have) fly very high. See this page on SL: http://senseis.xmp.net/?FujisawaTesujiDictionary for more information.

Perhaps I should have said that mid-dans would potentially get the most out of it. That is what I intended.