I am about a third of the way through this, and a lot of the sections seem to follow a similar pattern:

1. Present a simple formation (eg the 'two-space notcher'), give the rule for its status, show a sequence which demonstrates its status, and then maybe repeat with a variation or two.
2. Present 6 problems to solve, which all vary from the standard shape, and therefore probably have a different status.

(A variation can be a 'leg', a missing or extra connection, a missing or extra liberty somewhere, or the formation being moved from the side to the corner.)

So how best to learn from the book?

Try to remember the rules for all the standard shapes, plus a large number of their variations?

Understand the general ideas, then read out everything when you encounter it in a game? In which case, is the book little more than a book of practice problems?

Try to remember the rules for the standard shapes only, and read out the others when you encounter them in a game?

_________________
Regards,

Peter

I would suggest the following learning strategy:

1) Try to understand the presented variations for the respective formations
2) Try to solve the six problems (some problems may be somewhat tough especially at the beginning)
3) If you can not solve a problem, there are different opinions on if you should look at the solutions or not. (I have to admit that I mostly look at the solutions, if I'm unsure )
4) Don't try to do too many sections at a time, rather play some games for relaxation - if you are lucky you may recognize some situations similar to the L&D book and get the right idea how to handle them.
5) I would also solve some (easier) problems e. g. on http://www.goproblems.com, I also recommend the problem compilation on http://wbaduk.com, which can be used on a smartphone - good thing when waiting at a bus station etc..
6) After some time, take another section of your choice and repeat from 1)

Or just do what I've done for now: don't.

My own sense was that I didn't get as much out of the book as I could have when I first encountered it, because my reading was too weak. But I had also encountered the easier material in other books. I wouldn't say "this is too hard for you", because there is a lot of good basic material like dead eye-shapes (i.e. nakade), capturing races, and so on. But in general the problems assume a very high level of reading.

If you do try to remember the status of the groups, I would remember them more for attack and defense purposes than life-n-death. It is useful to know how much space on the second line your invasion will need to live, but once you have seven stones "knowing" the status won't help you too much if you can't read it out.

Davies is very good. Unfortunately, I am unfamiliar with the book. For study at your level, I would ignore the problems at first, and go over the other material (as long as it does not seem too difficult) until I had learned it thoroughly, i.e., overlearned it. Then tackle the problems, or other tsumego.

To show you what I mean by learning the material thoroughly, let me sing the praises of Mr. K. Here is the URL for his life and death pages. http://mrkigo.sakura.ne.jp/ksikatuindex.html

Here is an example, a dead shape for Black, in accord with a go proverb. A book might show two variations to demonstrate that it is dead. Mr. K shows 16 variations! That is terrific for overlearning.



If you study the positions in Davies as thoroughly as Mr. K, you should do well.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Nice, but, is it only available in Japanese script?

_________________
Regards,

Peter

There's a lot of chatter on the individual pages themselves, but I think the titles and diagrams should be enough. Here's my own poor translation of the titles:

1. The rectangular 6 is alive
2. The comb 6 is alive
3-5. 6 die, 8 live (1-3)
6-8. In the corner, 6 stones in a row on the second line live (1-3)
9. A bent 4 has eyes / the straight 4 lives, the square 4 dies
10-12. The bent 4 in the corner is dead (1-3)
13-18. The rectangular 6 in the centre is alive, but the rectangular 6 in the corner dies (1-6)
19-20. On the third line, 4 die but 6 live (1-2)
PS. The bent 4 in the corner is dead: revised

I only look at the pictures.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

The truth comes out!!

Oh, yes. The dead shape is the square 4 not the pyramid 4.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

I have owned the book since I was like 20kyu but I have never finished it because it is such a very dry book.

Howhever I have become pretty good (compared to other 5kyu's) at life and death by studying "essential life an death series". (http://senseis.xmp.net/?LevelUpEssentialLifeAndDeath)
It is a korean series of 4 books which gives you a very practical foundation of life and death. (the text is in english though)
I have studied the first 3 books, the 4th is too difficult for me.

Essential Life & Death 1 (15-10 kyu)
Essential Life & Death 2 (10-5 kyu)
Essential Life & Death 3 (5 kyu - 3 Dan)
Essential Life & Death 4 (1 Dan - 5 Dan)

I highly recommend to read them instead.

Good Luck,
Otenki

I found the L&D book by Davies to be one of the best beginner books out there. Along with Tesuji (also by James Davies) - these are two of the very first books I recommend all beginners read. Myself, I have read it around 20k-18k or so, and it immediately propelled me to close to SDK...

The main value of this book, as opposed to other/pure problem books is that the material is laid out in a very manageable chunks. Each chapter deals with a very focused and well-defined pattern, which is explained with a few examples. Then there are a few problems (like 3 or 4 or so) which DIRECTLY correlate to the patter under study. This is, I think, the differentiator for this book - the problems are very closely related to the given theme - sometimes with only a stone added or moved... This way the reader can solve the problems relatively easy (so there is no frustration) and at the same time crystalize the understanding of the given pattern.

The exact same goes for Tesuji!

All in all - I highly recommend both books. They are, in my view, two of the absolutely best beginner books ever published in English. And they are both a great foundation to red and absorb before looking at any other problem books.

Just my personal opinion...

_________________
- Bantari
______________________________________________
WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

Oh, do-oh... Forgot to answer the question. How to study this book...

Here is how:
Read one page... turn page... read what's there.. solve problems... turn page... read what's there... solve problems... rinse and repeat. And no - I am not trying to be funny here. This is, I think, exactly how you should study from this book. It is laid out so well that just going through page after page is what is needed.

And if you are stuck on a problem or two - just peak at the solution, and then try to solve the problem again in your head. Try not to spend too much time on each problem - they are so light, if you cannot see the answer quickly, it is probably because of some mental blind spot and staring at it longer will not help much - so just peak at the solution, remove the mental block, and try solving it again. Then move on to the next topic.

Hope this helps.

_________________
- Bantari
______________________________________________
WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

There seem to be widely differing opinions on this book, both its usefulness, and the level of player at which it is aimed.

I am finding it a little dry. It seems to be a case of: "Here is a rule, here is an example sequence, now solve these..." There is not much in the way of explanations, principles or scalability.

_________________
Regards,

Peter

Life and death in general isn't a subject that leads itself to a lot of general principles, as it is focused on the specifics of the particular situation, as opposed to, say, a book on shape or fundamentals.

Scalability, in some sense, comes for free. The best go knowledge doesn't seem to come distilled into proverbs or nuggets of information, but comes through experience and practice and repeated exposure. Life and death seems to be very difficult to write scalable rules for, whereas certain kinds of tesuji are easier.

I don't think this is a book which is supposed to be scalable.
It is a book that gives beginners exactly what they need - a bunch of basic shapes and ways of handling them. Those shapes will stay with the player for the rest of their go-playing life and benefit them greatly throughout.

Its like learning a language: you need to learn some words before you can make sentences and talk about all the scalable rules which govern the sentences. You need some vocabulary first.

'Life and Death' gives you a good start on the Go vocabulary. From there you can go on to scalable principles. But I don't think you can go the other way... or at least - this would not be very efficient.

Same for Davis' Tesuji.

PS>
As for 'dry' and the rest of the things you say - it is very subjective so I cannot really comment on that. If this is how you feel, all I can say: good thing we are all different or the world would be a boring place.

_________________
- Bantari
______________________________________________
WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

So are you saying that each of his basic shapes (the 'starting point' for each chapter) is something which should be committed to memory?

How many variations should also be memorised?

Or should it be treated more as a dictionary, to look up a shape you encountered in one of your games?

_________________
Regards,

Peter

The shapes should be 'absorbed', whatever this means.
I don't think that 'memorization' is the right word - in the sense that I do not expect the beginner to rattle off all of the shapes and examples and problems with eyes closed after reading this book. But I would expect him/her to be able to not be completely uncomfortable and lost when confronted with any of the shapes in their games anymore.

With time, these shapes will get memorized. I would venture a guess that most SDK players (and all dan players) know these shapes very well. And they do not need to derive solutions from some scalable general rules - they just KNOW the answer. Do you need to THINK how to kill 5-point dumpling or you you just KNOW? Exactly.

What's more - the stronger you get the more such shapes you 'know'. L&D gets you started with the vocabulary you will develop - but its just a start.

Go is mainly about reading, and standard shapes provide reading shortcuts. The more shortcuts you have, the better you can read.

Sure - you also need scalable general rules, strategic principles, proverbs, and whatnot. But that comes later. If you don't have a database of basic shapes in your head - you will never get any good, I think. And generally - the more such shapes you know, the stronger you are. Although the shapes, of course, are not the ONLY thing responsible for your strength.

Strategy is also a tool to help you read ahead - so in the sense they are two sides of the same coin. Strategy helps you prune the tree while basic shapes increase reading depth.

As far as beginners are concerned, I think they should start with shapes as this is by far the more basic area of study.

PS>
I advocate to read the book from cover to cover, and not just use it as a lookup. Of course - later on, when you find you forgot stuff, looking it up is just fine. But the goal is to eventually be able to sell the book because its contents are deeply absorbed and there is no need for the book anymore.

_________________
- Bantari
______________________________________________
WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

Each of the chapters is about a basic shape that comes up often, its status, and how to deal with it. The problems are all variations on the theme to force you to think about the shape, like "what if black has a hane here" or "is this still alive if white's connection isn't solid?". You don't need to memorize the shape's responses, etc, so long as you can recognize the shape when it comes up and can read out the responses knowing the status, which is what the problems kind of check.

Admittedly, you may not be at a level where this matters as much as yet, so you could also just go through it as a problem book where the theme is explained and you solve the variations.