Naoki Miyamoto, Charles Mathews, Yilun Yang, and Cho Chikun

[Aidoneus]

I recently got Naoki Miyamoto's Test Your Go Strength through an inter-library loan (http://www.worldcat.org/title/test-your ... ef_results). While it is fun, I can't recommend it for accuracy! According to the test, in which I spent less than a minute on each of 50 problems, I am 3 dan in opening stage, 3 kyu in middle, and 9 kyu in ending. Of course the multiple choice selection method and guiding questions for each diagram help immensely, and I didn't so much read as "feel" what seemed the right moves. Still, it may have some value in showing one's relative understanding for different phases of the game. I know that my understanding of good play diminishes as the game advances. Looking at the Game Score Graph for my games with Many Faces of Go 12, I typically hold on to a big lead with my handicap until about moves 30-40, when it gets dicey. With 4-5 stones against a 6 kyu level setting I can just hang on and win better than 75% of the time. But even with 9 stones at 3 kyu I still either get squeezed into the corners or cut up in the middle and lose by a big margin every time. I really am beginning to appreciate discussions concerning connections and splitting! BTW, at what level does Monte Carlo kick in for MFOG 12? It feels like it makes a huge jump in playing strength from 6 to 3 kyu.

On the topic of opening play, I highly recommend Charles Mathew's On Your Side articles (book really) at http://gobase.org/studying/articles/matthews/fuseki/

I finally got a copy of Yilun Yang's Fundamental Principles of Go. I had decided to put this on my short list after reading a sample (http://www.slateandshell.com/pdf/Fundam ... 0Pages.pdf), and I have to say that I really think this book is perfect for my current level.

I also continue to work through 20-50 problems each day from Cho Chikun's Encyclopedia of Life and Death (http://tsumego.tasuki.org/). Personally, I like the way that it is organized for a first reading, though I can see how randomizing the problems would probably be better for subsequent reads.

Now if I could just improve my middle game somehow...in addition to playing more, of course!

[Aidoneus]

I'm now about half way through Yilun Yang's Fundamental Principles of Go. The discussion of topics such as high/low and close/far corner approaches, tight/loose and high/low pincers, and whole board considerations is superb IMHO. For a DDK this really is fundamental knowledge, while the book might even be useful for SDKs with any gaps in their knowledge. In particular, I find that the relaxed explanations work better for me at my current level than endless long variations. (I never was much for chess analysis in which the author tries to point out every possibility for the next 20 moves at each move. Nobody systematically looks that far ahead during the game!) A famous chess story goes:

An old story about this holds that after their Championship match in 1927, Capablanca was asked by a newspaper reporter how many moves ahead he was looking against Alekhine. "On the average, about ten moves ahead," the great Cuban answered.

The same writer asked Alekine the same thing, but Alekhine demanded to know Capablanca's answer first, and the reporter told him.

Alekhine then said, "I only looked ahead one move - but it was always the best move."

[RobertJasiek]

The discussion of topics such as high/low and close/far corner approaches, tight/loose and high/low pincers, and whole board considerations is superb IMHO.

Everything is correct, but a lot of information on those topics is missing in Fundamental Principles. Therefore, I do not share your judgement. Elsewhere in the literature, WRT corner approaches and pincers more detailed information and WRT to whole board considerations much more detailed information is available. Now, it can be understood that that book spends only ca. one fourth on joseki related topics and there is not enough space for every whole board consideration. However, easily there would be enough space for detailed information on corner approaches and pincers. Instead, Fundamental Principles understates the topic and leaves gaps in the reader's knowledge. The book would be superb WRT to the mentioned topic if it closed all major knowledge gaps.

[wineandgolover]

Everything is correct, but a lot of information on those topics is missing in Fundamental Principles. Therefore, I do not share your judgement.

This is a short book, not a dictionary or encyclopedia. Its purpose is to give the reader some ideas to consider, not provide all the answers in all situations.

Your criticism is surely valid for you, but reads to me as, "I cannot recommend this vegetarian restaurant because of their lack of meat choices."

[RobertJasiek]

This is a short book, not a dictionary or encyclopedia. Its purpose is to give the reader some ideas to consider, not provide all the answers in all situations.

I have been well aware that the book is not particularly long and not an encyclopedia. Nevertheless, there are other such books that teach more essential principles and do not leave important gaps (such as offering no principles for very far pincers).

Books missing essential knowledge leave the reader without it. He then needs to read also the other book (for some topics: other books) to get a reasonably complete overview on the basics. (The basics, not encyclopeadic knowledge.) The alternative is to be a kyu player with insufficient essential knowledge making lots of mistakes due to the gaps. I know, because it was my experience as a kyu, when appropriate books were not available yet. I also know from watching play of players not having read enough appropriate books with the essential principles. Many such players repeat the same and same mistakes.

A kyu learning the principles of Fundamental Principles can also learn twice as many principles, and then this approaches what I want to see in such a book - no essential gaps in the approach move and pincer topics discussed in the book. (Global considerations require longer explanations though; one book won't suffice.)

[Uberdude]

Books missing essential knowledge leave the reader without it. He then needs to read also the other book (for some topics: other books) to get a reasonably complete overview on the basics. (The basics, not encyclopeadic knowledge.) The alternative is to be a kyu player with insufficient essential knowledge making lots of mistakes due to the gaps.

Well I read YY's Fundamental Principles and thought it excellent, have never read RJ's supposedly superior books, and yet somehow made 4 dan. So it seems there is another alternative.

[RobertJasiek]

So it seems there is another alternative.

Yes: from 3d to 5d, I struggled to find all those basic principles that every kyu should already know and the books and oral teaching were hiding from me at that time. It is possible (I discovered the basic principles by myself) and can take years. There is simply no need for it to take years, since the principles are simple and can be learnt quickly if only they are available to the player at all.

Actually, Fundamental Principles uses exactly this kind of teaching (and therefore is useful at all). But the book halts in the middle and teaches only a part of what is necessary (and therefore it is by far not as useful as it could be).