Life In 19x19

Some ideas for go books that I'd like to see written:

Corner invasions - how to invade, and how to defend

Sente, gote and tenuki - examples of sente moves, faux sente moves (that can be ignored), when to tenuki, and how to react when your opponent tenukis.

Anyone one else have any ideas?

kirkmc wrote:Sente, gote and tenuki - examples of sente moves, faux sente moves (that can be ignored), when to tenuki, and how to react when your opponent tenukis.

Probably two different parts - when to tenuki in fuseki and sente and gote plays in endgame...

kirkmc wrote:Corner invasions - how to invade, and how to defend

Enclosure joseki by Takemiya.

A book of middlegame whole-board problems in which the task is to identify the nerai available on the board and rank or compare them in terms of size, urgency and timing contingencies.

kirkmc wrote:Sente, gote and tenuki - examples of sente moves, faux sente moves (that can be ignored), when to tenuki, and how to react when your opponent tenukis.

- Sente, gote and tenuki possibilities are considered implicit. For example tsumego problems only show positions where there is possibility to achieve some kind of goal, but in real games there's no one tapping your shoulder and saying that something can be killed. I think it helps to learn situations where you'd want to play certain kind of move, like one point jump along the edge in order to get ahead. What kind of moves can be considered sente is based on the foundation of strategic principles.

A book on strategy would be nice.

when to tenuki in fuseki

There was a humorous proverb from, as I recall, Russia many years ago, and it was much quoted in the London Go Centre: With only 15 stones in danger, tenuki.

The joke worked because, superficially, it can seem valid. It seems to be much easier for amateurs to make a weak group live than to kill one, especially a big one, so this so-called proverb often ends up applying.

In practical terms, if you want to win as opposed to improve, it seems to me that tenuki is much more valuable in amateur games than in pro games.

No pro book will tell you that, but sometimes I suppose you need to be street-wise.

kirkmc wrote: Anyone one else have any ideas?

I would love to see a book that focuses on Kitani's school. the first section of the book could provide background on Kitani himself (and his family), and cover his playing style. Then in the second section, for as long as the author could endure, chapter after chapter introducing prominent students of the school, with a bio, and then a sampling of that student's playing style.

It might be interesting to see two games from each student. The frist played in their youth as their style is developing (presumably under Kitani's instruction), and a second game from the height of their career or a defining moment on the board.

Bonus points for an appendix with a "family tree" type diagram showing student-teacher relationships between kitani, his students, and his student's student, etc (possibly clustered by nationality).

Of course, I am plenty busy with the current new releases. I still have yet to order "Retirement Game" or "Master Play: The Seven Top Pros", both of which I am looking forward to over winter break.

Gresil wrote:A book of middlegame whole-board problems in which the task is to identify the nerai available on the board and rank or compare them in terms of size, urgency and timing contingencies.

"What's Your Rating" from Kiseido Digital has many whole board problems with rankings. I don't know if that's what you're looking for.

Create a tome of 7000 tsumego for dan players. 1000 for 1d, 1000 for 2d and so on. That would be magnificent.

LovroKlc wrote:Create a tome of 7000 tsumego for dan players. 1000 for 1d, 1000 for 2d and so on. That would be magnificent.

That would be a pretty big book.

I have a Japanese book of dan-level tesuji problems that contains around 2600 problems. It is the largest book in my go library, and probably weighs at least 6 or 7 pounds. A book almost three times that size would be difficult to use.

Personally, I don't see a big need for more tsumego books, because everyone can read Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tsumego books even if they don't speak the language. Someone could easily put together 7000 problems ranging from 1 to 7 dan using such books, or probably many times that if they felt it worthwhile.

I would like to see more annotated game collections in English. There is already a fairly good selection, with John Fairbairn and Yuan Zhou recently improving the situation quite a bit, but it would be nice to have a bigger collection more representative of the history of go and of the Korean and Chinese go players. Of course, given the economics of writing go books in English, we should probably consider ourselves fortunate for what we already have.

For problems, I'd rather see collections that can be used on devices like an iPad, iPhone or other smartphone or tablet... Much more practical.

Bartleby wrote:Personally, I don't see a big need for more tsumego books, because everyone can read Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tsumego books even if they don't speak the language. Someone could easily put together 7000 problems ranging from 1 to 7 dan using such books, or probably many times that if they felt it worthwhile.

I think that presentation is crucial, and if a book is designed with that many problems in an organized and level fashion, you may find it to be much more valuable than books of the same level which have a lesser degree of organization.

I would like to see more annotated game collections in English. There is already a fairly good selection, with John Fairbairn and Yuan Zhou recently improving the situation quite a bit, but it would be nice to have a bigger collection more representative of the history of go and of the Korean and Chinese go players. Of course, given the economics of writing go books in English, we should probably consider ourselves fortunate for what we already have.

I second this! In particular commentaries of newer games would be invaluable to help in understanding current pro thought, as there are already a good number of old games commented in English. (I'm especially looking forward to the translation of Yi Se-tol's three-volume set.)

John Fairbairn wrote:There was a humorous proverb from, as I recall, Russia many years ago, and it was much quoted in the London Go Centre: With only 15 stones in danger, tenuki.

Without humour, the Russian proverb speaks of 7 stones.

oren wrote:

Gresil wrote:A book of middlegame whole-board problems in which the task is to identify the nerai available on the board and rank or compare them in terms of size, urgency and timing contingencies.

"What's Your Rating" from Kiseido Digital has many whole board problems with rankings. I don't know if that's what you're looking for.

Also "The Great Joseki Debates" ( which really should be called "The Great Fuseki Debates" because it deals with whole-board problems. )

RobertJasiek wrote:

John Fairbairn wrote:There was a humorous proverb from, as I recall, Russia many years ago, and it was much quoted in the London Go Centre: With only 15 stones in danger, tenuki.

Without humour, the Russian proverb speaks of 7 stones.

Of course. It is colder there.