The Theory And Practice of Go by O. Korschelt

[MrPlatypus]

I recently checked this out from my local library, and I'm wondering if this book would do a beginner good. I'm not far in, and I like the writing style, but is this something I should be reading as a beginner, or might this be more than my noobish brain can handle?
Also, what are other's thoughts on this book? Waste of time?

Any feedback would be appreciated here, as this is one of only two books on the subject of Go I am able to obtain locally, and I hope it's one worth reading.

Thanks.

[EdLee]

This book was originally written in German in the 1800's, then translated into English (in the 1960's?).
It's probably interesting from a cultural or historical perspective.
After you've picked up the basic rules, you can consider "The Second Book of Go" by Richard Bozulich.

[Hushfield]

Korschelt's ancient tome also happened to be the first book I picked up as a beginner, but the content isn't all that appealing. It presents some go problems and professional games, if I recall correctly, but these were way over my head when I just started. You'd be much better off with Bozulich's 'Second Book of Go' (as EdLee mentioned), or perhaps even wait a little on theory books and just play more games and work through Kano's Graded Go Problems for Beginners vols.1-2. The first volume is really easy, but as I made my way through the second volume, I noticed a big jump in my reading ability and middle game fighting strength, perhaps the biggest one I'll ever experience in studying go. I wholeheartedly recommend the GGPfB series, you can read more about those: here

[daal]

Since the OP mention that only two books are available, he might not be ready to spend money on go books. One idea would be to download the two freely available books from the river mountain go series by Oliver Richman (usagi). They are a bit more up to date. A link to download the books can be found here on Sensei's Library: http://senseis.xmp.net/?TaijisBooks

[hyperpape]

One reviewer of Korschelt's book was quite negative (http://www.gobooks.info/korschelt.html). Otherwise, the only times I've heard it mentioned are as being of historical interest.

[cdybeijing]

I read it; it won't hurt you. There are certainly many better books, but in the beginning you should be able to take something away from almost any book.

[tchan001]

http://www.gogod.co.uk/Shinpo/Shinpo001.htm

[BaghwanB]

Does your library participate in ILL (library loan)? If so, you can actually get books from across the whole planet through this system. You need to wait a bit for them but it greatly opens up what is available to you. Check and see. If so there a ton more (and more current) go books you can borrow.

Bruce "Bookie" Young

[MrPlatypus]

Does your library participate in ILL (library loan)? If so, you can actually get books from across the whole planet through this system. You need to wait a bit for them but it greatly opens up what is available to you. Check and see. If so there a ton more (and more current) go books you can borrow.

Bruce "Bookie" Young

I am not sure if my libraries in this area do participate in ILL, but I will talk with my mother-in-law, who is a librarian for one of the main branches, and see if I can get my hands on some others.
And yes, financially I can't afford the books I want to get, so free books definitely help.

Thank you for all the help guys! It is really truly appreciated.