Hane Naoki, The Way to Create a Strong and Thick Game254 pages
Published in 2008
Publisher: Hinoki Press
Overall rating: 3/5
General aspectFormat is nice, not too big, so that the book can be carried around easily (according to the motto of the publisher).
The book is well printed and the font is easy to read. As a nice feature, key sentences are printed in bold characters, drawing the reader's attention to important points.
The layout is pleasant, with, generally, one figure (actual game) on the left page and two diagrams (variations) on the right page.
ContentTwenty-two games played by Hane Naoki, from his days as an insei to his first title, and commented by him, with a focus on thickness, how he creates it and how he uses it. Recurring themes are that he is usually satisfied with moves that achieve a 80% result ("not getting one's stomach full"), the second best strategy, that he likes to take his time, avoids unclear fights and waits for the thickness to yield results later in the game.
Overall impression1) + The content is often interesting and explained in a simple, easy-to-understand way.
2) - Despite what the title and the foreword may advertise, I didn't get the impression that it explained clearly enough how the create and use thickness.
3) - Translation is often akward and sometimes even looks like gibberish to me (disclaimer: I am not a native speaker of English).
Detailed comments1) In game 1, the following position arose and Hane (10 years old and an insei at the time) played 35. According to him, this move is greedy and aims at achieving too much (see variations). White pincered at 36 and because of the aji of the white at c13, black's group had to be protected by playing 37.
This felt like the kind of comments that can be very useful to many players. It is simple, clear and can be put to use immediately in our games.
In game 3, he explains how the solid reinforcement move at 14 could have been put to better use by attacking at 17, instead of exchanging 16 for 17. This is practical and a good example of how playing a solid move allows one to play more severely later.
The same can be said of the comments in game 5 for instance. Hane gives very clear and useful comments about how he should have dealt with his moyo being opened to reduction in two places.
The comment p. 77 about making white play many moves around black's thickness is also easy to understand and illustrates an important point.
There is a sizeable amount of such comments (not all of them about thickness) in this book and they can provide the reader with quite a few interesting ideas and new insights about his games.
2) My biggest problem with this book is a)its lack of focus b)the lack of (thorough) explanations.
Bits of useful information are scattered here and there, leaving the reader with a rather unclear overview of the topic. And, despite the title, it is not really made clear what a thick move is and how the reader is supposed to create and use thickness.
Several times Hane's comments run along the lines of "this move looks very slow, and it probably is, but this is my style and I was hoping that the thickness it created would yield good results later". Great. But I fear that this kind of comment isn't enough for the reader to get a feel for how to create thickness and use it. Obviously just playing slow-looking moves won't do!
This lack of detailed comments on why this particular move is good at this particular moment, or on how it became useful later, is well illustrated by move 59 in game 2 (a teaching game with his father, Hane Yasumasa 9p). Hane Naoki's comment is "Black 59 is the quintessence of my go style. However it is only thick (...) in many cases, this kind of slack moves ends up becoming unexpectedly effective later on." So far so good, but the trouble is were are never shown later how this move was useful to black's position. My best guess is that it made black more solid in this area, consequentely allowing him to tackle the lonely marked white stone more severely. But without any comment from the author, it is unclear (to me) from the game record only wether the move served any meaningful purpose later in the game.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm59
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X X . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X X X O O . . . O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O X X . O . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . Q . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . X . X . . O . . |
$$ | . . O , X X . . . , O . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . O O X . O . O . . O . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
It may also trouble the reader that some moves seem to contradict the advertised purpose of the book. In game 4 (p. 47), we are told that the tobi at 33 was "too pedantic" and "unsufficiently forceful". Black should have played a more severe move (see the variation). Ok, but what about the striving-for-80%-result, not-getting-one's-stomach-full attitude? Maybe this has something to do with what Hane says p. 34, "I make strong moves only when my influence is stronger and sounder than my opponent's", maybe not. It is left to the reader to decide.
To sum up, a lot (not all) of the thick moves presented in the games are not backed up by an analysis of the position that would justify their being played. Instead the reader is told several times that Hane "puts his faith in thickness", "expects pleasant things" or "believes thickness will operate one way or another". I have no contention with these ideas and my own experience is that, indeed, creating thickness requires a bit of faith. It is an investment for future times and there is often no knowing what will be achieved with it. But at the same time, being shown the moves without sufficient explanations may leave the reader with the feeling that playing thickly equals playing slow moves everywhere and waiting for something to happen. This lack of guidance removes much of the interest one could have in a book called "The Way of Creating a Thick and Strong Game".
3) As for the translation, I am a bit puzzled it went to print as is. Since I'm not a native speaker of English, I'll refrain from quoting too many examples but the translation often seemed stilted and akward to me.
"A one point difference like this is a truly suspicious fellow (...)" p. 67
"Attaching with Black 51, drawing back to 53 and then making the fencing-in move of 55 comprise a single set of moves", p. 80.
"If White presses at 3, the jump of black 4 would seem to give Black sufficient play.", p. 81.
"When one has only a single group of weak stones that may be attacked, running away is a good strategy. Then there is no way to run away before the attack is initiated. [Before being attacked, strengthen the group rather than run.]", p. 93.
ConclusionI was looking forward to this book and ended up being rather disappointed by the contents. There is plenty of interesting material in it, but the main topic is not adressed in a way that will make it really easier to understand. There are some really good pieces of advice but they are too scattered apart and no clear view on how to implement thickness in one's own games emerges. Maybe the fact that the games are presented in chronological order prevented the author from developing a more organized and focused teaching plan, maybe it is a teaching device ("I'll give you small bits of advice here and there and let you connect the dots"). Whatever the reason, it didn't work really well for me.
It is also a problem (and maybe a bigger one than the scatteredness of advices) that the reader is shown thick moves, some (supposedly) good, others bad, without the book providing enough explanations for the reader to "create a strong and thick game".
To sum up, a book with some good games and comments but not one that I felt has really made me understand thickness better. Maybe it will pay a careful rereading. Since the book is overall an easy read (despite the translation) I'll probably give it another shot in the near future and will be updating this review if need be.