Life In 19x19

As the president of Kiseido, I am proud to announce the publication of Essential Go Proverbs by John Power. In my opinion this book is truly a masterpiece. It is certainly the most comprehensive book on the go proverbs in any language, covering 104 proverbs with 431 examples and 258 problems in 522 pages.

The author, John Power, is certainly well known among western go players as the author of Invincible: The Games of Shusaku. And just like Invincible, Essential Go Proverbs is a book that is destined to achieve cult status.

For a description of this book, a photo, and to order, go to:
https://kiseidopublishing.com/Other.htm

Wow!

A little surprised to read that it was 45 years in the making.
Some people from the BGA put together a book on proverbs some 45ish years ago
I wonder how much more succesful the book will be than that one, it certainly has the air of being more comprehensive

Contains many interesting and profoundly original games in which these proverbs were applied.

"profoundly original games"

I have the Nihon Ki-in Handbook of Proverbs published by Yutopian. It's not currently accessible but my memory is that I had already encountered most of the topics in it from other books (but I read a lot). It looks like the Power book has a lot more material (it's three times the number of pages!) so that's promising. The excerpts in the Go Books app look good.

I am not going to lie, it does seem a bit expensive, but it also is something that I always wish that existed, so I am going to buy it
Great job!!!

"Essential Go Proverbs is the ultimate guide to mastering the ancient game of go." (citations from the advertisement)

An important part of my moving from kyu to dan was to abandon all proverbs, which are wrong too often. This does not mean that it might not be fun to study them but mostly for the purpose of understanding the limits of their scope.

The ultimate guide to mastering go would teach me all knowledge and skills. By proverbs? Nothing could be less suitable. Maybe there is justification for the price $95 or the claim of 45 years of making but does the advertisement not reach too far? Wouldn't have been "the ultimate guide to proverbs" sufficient?

"you'll develop a more intuitive sense of the game"

Another important part of my moving from kyu to dan was to replace as much subconscious thinking by reasoning and verification as possible and use both for improving my remaining guesswork.

Can any sample of the book's contents mitigate?

Essential Go Proverbs" - First Impressions

To access the synopsis of this exceptional book, I kindly direct you to the link shared by Richard Bozulich in his announcement: https://kiseidopublishing.com/Other.htm.

It has been only a week since I began studying this book, and I am utterly amazed by the outstanding quality of its content. I felt compelled to share my initial impressions on the forum and eagerly await contributions from fellow readers in the near future.

This monumental work spans 522 pages and provides a comprehensive in-depth analysis of 104 proverbs. These proverbs are thoughtfully categorized into nine chapters, covering various aspects of the game, such as Life and Death, Capturing Races, Tactics, Strategy, and more. Essentially, it encompasses all fundamental aspects of the game.

What truly distinguishes this book is its extensive use of examples for each proverb, highlighting their relevance to actual play. These examples are drawn from real games, and at the end of each "lesson," a couple of problems are presented. What could be better to enhance the learning process than this combination of theory, practical application, and problem-solving?

The book's layout is excellent, providing a pleasurable reading experience. Despite the author's mention that reading the book in a specific order is not necessary, I personally prefer to follow it sequentially. Additionally, I have started to lay out many diagrams on a physical board to train my reading and visualization skills.

Through its meticulous analysis of proverbs and principles, this book offers a remarkable wealth of foundational knowledge - offered in basic chunks for easy memorization - that is begging to be studied and internalized. This book is undeniably a masterpiece. If I were ever banished to an island and permitted to bring only one go book, "Essential Go Proverbs" would unequivocally be my choice.