Hello. I realize there might've been a thread on this subject before, sorry.

Looking at tasuki tsumego, he rates Gokyo Shumyo as 3 stars, Xuanxuan qijing as 4 and Igo Hatsuyoron at 5. I wonder what you guys have to say about the level of these books. At what dan should you study each particular book?

Gokyo Shumyo can be helpful to study for 1 dan and lower players.

Yes, I've heard that, but on Antti's blog I saw him writing that some of the last problems looked 'ridiculous' meaning pretty damn difficult. Also, I remember a pro saying something like mid-dan level players would benefit alot from studying it.

There are some crazy ladder problems at the end of it. I've been working from the beginning and there are some relatively easy problems. I have all three you mention and I agree with starting from Gokyo Shumyu -> Gengen Gokyo -> Igo Hatsuyoron

I also got Shikatsu Myoki as a classic, but I don't know where it fits in yet on difficulty.

Seems Fairbairn says Shikatsu Myoki is for near professional players, David says it's hard but not quite that hard.

Igo Hatsuyoron is well known to be primarily for student professionals, and many problems are very hard for professionals. The solution to at least one problem is probably not yet known.

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Thanks for letting me know about Shikatsu I had completely forgotten about that book. Just to ask around, is there any shop that has gengen gokyo on sale because I looked for it everywhere. I don't want to print it out x.x

My plan is to work through Gokyo shumyo then Gengen gokyo, after I finish Cho's encylopedia of l&d. Do you have any other suggestions for books I could throw in the mix? Obviously Igo Hatsuyoron and other über hard books come at the very end of my list:)

I think in another thread you said you were going to Japan. It's not too bad to get it shipped there. I got lucky to find a seller on amazon.co.jp willing to send it over.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/offer-listin ... ition=used

None seem to be sending overseas, but it's not hard to find. If you're around Tokyo, this is the place to go, http://www.akasiya-shoten.com/

I think John Fairbairn was planning to release a translation of Gengen Gokyo. This may not matter much but I believe there have been several editions of this classic over the years, edited by different pros, who correct errors among other things.
This Sensei's Library page has some info (Xuanxuan Qijing is the original Cinese title of the work): http://senseis.xmp.net/?XuanxuanQijing
Particularly interesting is Kobayashi Chizu's comment that Gengen Gokyo is the classic collection to do first and even kyu players can benefit from it.

If I stop at Tokyo I'll make sure to check that out. Thanks.

And Fairbain has released it, I think. I have a...pdf... *cough*

But I think the Chizu comment is kinda confusing. I think she might be suggesting we use Gengen gokyo to get a feel for vital points by referring to the answers. However, I'd rather not look at the answers and simply try by myself for as long as it takes.

Kansufu 3d+.

It's in progress, available in GoGoD. If there is a Korean edition to a book you are looking for, I highly recommend getting it from the Korean Book Center in LA. You can contact the owner directly at: mark@jesimports.com. He speaks good English so there is no need for knowledge of Korean. If he doesn't carry the book, he'll import it for you.

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"Those who calculate greatly will win; those who calculate only a little will lose, but what of those who don't make any calculations at all!? This is why everything must be calculated, in order to foresee victory and defeat."-The Art of War

John has abandoned a print version and is preparing a full version for the Kindle. Further details will be posted closer to the date.

Best wishes.

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No aji, keshi, kifu or kikashi has been harmed in the compiling of this post.
http://www.gogod.co.uk

That's great news , i was waiting for some kindle go books.

That's interesting. Will there be an EPUB too? I have a Nook.

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"Those who calculate greatly will win; those who calculate only a little will lose, but what of those who don't make any calculations at all!? This is why everything must be calculated, in order to foresee victory and defeat."-The Art of War

I doubt it, considering the amount of work involved in preparing diagrams for the Kindle edition. Sorry.

Best wishes.

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No aji, keshi, kifu or kikashi has been harmed in the compiling of this post.
http://www.gogod.co.uk

Fortunately, cracking a kindle file and then converting it to EPUB is easy. You could even purchase the kindle file first, to not feel like you're hurting John by doing it.

I'm pretty sure the diagrams would survive this process. I see no technical difficulties there.

Don't encourage piracy even on a subtle level.

If it's possible to easily convert a kindle file to epub, then the thing to do is crack it, and email it to John with a friendly note saying "Just in case you'd like to sell this as an epub."

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Occupy Babel!