I wanted to read this book since I heard about it because I am notoriously bad at the opening. I had heard that it was a hard read, but that it would make you stronger. I was not disappointed.

The premise is basic: each stone has power and needs to be considered. Be it your fifth move or your 50th move, they should each relate to the other stones on the board. However, the problems it presents are difficult, because it uses real go games and go is a difficult game.

The flow of this book is fantastic. It teaches with the same flow as a real game. Starting with a discussion on the standard corner moves (3-3, 3-4, 4-4, 3-5, and 4-5) and then moving into how the corner moves relate to the rest of the board. It talks about following up on previous moves in the opeing and eventually discusses how fighting and the direction of play relate to each other (middle game). That is where the book ends (quite abruptly, I might add).

Kajiwara Takeo is be very informative, but also entertaining. The subject matter could be written about heavily and dryly, but some sections were hilarious. At one point he talked about how it is typically bad to play into your opponents strategy and did it so plainly that I was laughing. How obvious this was and how stupid some of my moves had been in the past also helped to make this funnier. (Be ready to laugh at yourself, because you're probably making a lot of mistakes)

The goal of reading this book should not be to get every point and memorize it all. The concepts in this book are advanced, probably too much for most kyu players to fully grasp. But it can still be broken down into basic principles and those, when applied to a real game, are, well, game-changing. I've heard that one should simply have this book "in the back of your mind" and that is enough to make a difference - I agree.

I would recommend this book to any single-digit kyu player. I could tell my opening got much stronger after reading this, so if you aren't sure how to stay ahead of your opponent in the opening I would read this book.

It could also be good for players in the 15-10k range, but might be a bit too advanced. I lent it to a 16 kyu from my local go club and he is struggling with it, but still likes it. If you are in this range, I would consider it, but maybe look into other books first.

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"You have to walk before you can run. Black 1 was a walking move.
I blushed inwardly to recall the ignorant thoughts that had gone through
my mind before, when I had not realized the true worth of Black 1."
-Kageyama Toshiro on proper moves

Good review. When I was learning go, this was one of two books that I loved for both their instruction and their chatty style. The other, of course, was Kageyama.

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- Brady
Want to see videos of low-dan mistakes and what to learn from them? Brady's Blunders

I have this book for a while, but I don't read it just until I reached single digit kyu recently.
This book is quite helpful for me, especially to have better understanding how each stone give impact to the whole board during the opening until the middle game.

I tried to read it a few times but at my level (KGS 2K when I read it), I found that this book did not help me. Unless you already know a ton of joseki, I don't think this book will help you to make progress in the fuseki or other any parts of the game. You might think you are playing in the right direction while... I will probably read it again if I can get to the Dan level and understand a little bit more about it.

I loved this book, even at 10k. I remember that he wrote as if stones had feelings, and that choosing the wrong direction would offend previously played stones. Fun to read and educational.

_________________
- Brady
Want to see videos of low-dan mistakes and what to learn from them? Brady's Blunders

Wow, weren't you the one claiming to have pro-level fuseki some time ago? (At least for the first 8 moves or so.)
What caused the reevaluation?


How did you measure this?
Did you ask much stronger players for reviews? (The wording suggests that you didn't and are again relying on self-evaluation.)

I actually regret making that claim. I have learned as I study go how much more I have to learn. That comments was made, in part, because of reading this book. I felt very confident and have been able to imitate professional fuskeki up to a point, yes, but once my opponent deviates from "normal" moves my ability falls short. I simply have memorized the key points in several popular professional-level fuseki (orthodox, low and mini Chinese, and san-ren-sei) by reviewing professional games and am able to apply what I learned in The Direction of Play to new situations so I don't feel totally lost. This is all.

If you want to look at any of my games to see how I do against "normal" and "non-normal" openings, you can look at my study journal. There are a lot in there.


It was part self evaluation, yes, based on playing against a long time opponent. In the opening moves I was able to get ahead - insanely ahead - to the point that when he won a big fight I still was able to win the game based on my positional advantage. No one in our club had ever really studied and our opening play was based simply on "corner-side-center" and nothing else.

The other part was actually evaluation by a stronger player. It came from a comment a KGS 5d made in a simul against me. In the post-game review he said my opening was "spot on" which furthered my confidence. Furthered it so much that I put my foot in my mouth on the forums here. All I did in that game was copy pro moves for the first 10 moves or so, so of course my opening was good.

Regardless, The Direction of Play is still one of my favorite go books. I would now put Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go ahead of it, but what I learned by reading The Direction of Play has stuck with me, more or less. I would like to read it again because I know I've lost some of it by now - I remember I didn't do too well on the problems toward the end, but I lent it to that friend so he could improve his opening. Sadly, he hasn't taken the time to read it.

_________________
"You have to walk before you can run. Black 1 was a walking move.
I blushed inwardly to recall the ignorant thoughts that had gone through
my mind before, when I had not realized the true worth of Black 1."
-Kageyama Toshiro on proper moves

Nevermind, I just assumed this was a new thread.

Big date gaps between posts / old threads should have some visual cue.

They do. There are dates on them.

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- Bantari
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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!