Useful books to become stronger

[Vio]

when I was your level, I bought lots of books that were really aimed at stronger players. I ending up not really reading them. They didn't help me.

Would I recommend other beginners buying those books? Probably not.
Would I buy them again if I were still at that beginner level? Probably

I like books

The best way to get stronger is to play games, not reading books (with some exceptions).

This. A thousand times, this.

I dont't agree, when i was 20kyu kgs I got tesuji by james davies and read it through in like 2 weeks.
I tried to read all sequences even if I really could not.

After I did this I was 16 kyu kgs.

So it does not really matter if you get experience in books or on a board. But you are going to need reading experience. And some experience of the "flow" of the game.

Enjoy
Otenki

Tesuji (the book) did help me a lot to go from like 8k to 5k.

Reading books won't harm your go strength really, it's a matter of efficiency and it's usually more effective to play as to read.

Efficiency is not all, the fun has a place too so if you have fun reading, do it!

Reading power in go is often acquired by doing go problems, which are coming from books.
So reading books can even be very effective later, with some discipline.

Today's concern is the new theory covered by irruption of the AI which could make a lot of books a bit obsolete but which still remains to be written.

[Applebaps]

BUT WHERE IS KAGEYAMA ???????

This was my first and only thought, and it bears repeating until everyone reads him. I'm especially finding him helpful because a lot of his examples of bad play look like my games I have to do better!

The way he doesn't just go "this move is best" but also explains WHY in a way that's actually comprehensible is amazing. Plus he actually understands what it's like to play against people stronger than you, he knows how to make you see what you're doing wrong in a way that isn't just "this is wrong" for impenetrable reasons.

Go people love to speak in code to seem smart, but not him. I finally understand what thickness actually is, for instance, and why you don't use it to make territory. All sorts of things like this are becoming clear, more and more with each page.

The yellow book? More like the golden book.

I don't know if I would have gotten the same benefit if I'd read it as a 30k just starting out. I probably would have just thought it was great, not outright amazing. It's very very VERY good for mid-teens DDK though. And strong fundamentals can benefit anyone imo.

[FinrodFelagund]

This is my first post, so if this the wrong place to ask, then let me know.

I am just getting back into Go after a long hiatus. The highest I've gotten on any server was 2k on OGS. I almost never counted or cared about endgame, and I think that lead to a large gap in my play, since I would either win by a large margin or overplay and lose by a large margin. I would love to read an effective book on counting, endgame calculations, and how to go from a late middle game position to the end. Basically, anything on winning relatively close games.

As a side note, I have an account on IGS that is pretty low ranked, and the ranking system makes it difficult to rank up quickly. So I am going to try to win games against much weaker opponents by a specific number of points (5.5 or 10.5). This will hopefully provide a lot of practice, but it will also make me feel like less of a sandbagger.

Any advice or recommendations welcome.

[dino1019]

Also, I like to add that it can be interesting to replay (and memorize, if you like) professional games in the intermediate range. If you like to do so, I'd strongly recommend commented games, so that you know which moves are good or bad and why. My choices would be games by Shusaku (Book: Invincible), Go Seigen, Cho Chikun or by the early Lee Chang'ho. In my experience these games are pretty straight forward and 'easy to follow' at some level.

For studying professional games, are there games of any players in the past 20 years and in the past 5 years that are also easy to follow? Where I came from is the significant changes over these years, and especially during the post-AI era, and I am wondering if most recent games are also if not more helpful.

[Knotwilg]

This is my first post, so if this the wrong place to ask, then let me know.

I am just getting back into Go after a long hiatus. The highest I've gotten on any server was 2k on OGS. I almost never counted or cared about endgame, and I think that lead to a large gap in my play, since I would either win by a large margin or overplay and lose by a large margin. I would love to read an effective book on counting, endgame calculations, and how to go from a late middle game position to the end. Basically, anything on winning relatively close games.

As a side note, I have an account on IGS that is pretty low ranked, and the ranking system makes it difficult to rank up quickly. So I am going to try to win games against much weaker opponents by a specific number of points (5.5 or 10.5). This will hopefully provide a lot of practice, but it will also make me feel like less of a sandbagger.

Any advice or recommendations welcome.

Another idea: avoid big fights, even if you go into the endgame being behind. Then play your best endgame. Reserve all your overtime time periods for the endgame (but use your main time not to run into disaster)

Caveat: I've tried this idea myself and it didn't do a lot for me. Analyzing my games with KataGo, they are still very much decided in the middle game, where swings of 10+ points frequently happen. But, like Bill says: above all study what you like.

[Knotwilg]

BUT WHERE IS KAGEYAMA ???????

This was my first and only thought, and it bears repeating until everyone reads him. I'm especially finding him helpful because a lot of his examples of bad play look like my games I have to do better!

The way he doesn't just go "this move is best" but also explains WHY in a way that's actually comprehensible is amazing. Plus he actually understands what it's like to play against people stronger than you, he knows how to make you see what you're doing wrong in a way that isn't just "this is wrong" for impenetrable reasons.

Go people love to speak in code to seem smart, but not him. I finally understand what thickness actually is, for instance, and why you don't use it to make territory. All sorts of things like this are becoming clear, more and more with each page.

The yellow book? More like the golden book.

I don't know if I would have gotten the same benefit if I'd read it as a 30k just starting out. I probably would have just thought it was great, not outright amazing. It's very very VERY good for mid-teens DDK though. And strong fundamentals can benefit anyone imo.

I found Kageyama very entertaining and also very motivational about the fact that fundamentals matter. As for what the fundamentals are, he doesn't really provide much insight. "Look at this position and repeat to yourself, Black's thickness is superior" or "What does The Stones Go Walking mean? Exactly what it says: they go walking". Maybe a concept like "getting ahead". Or that one should read. Anyway, don't want to downplay what has been a great book for so many, but I find its entertainment and simplicity is somewhat deceptive.