Basic Techniques of Go [Paperback]

Haruyama Isamu (Author), Nagahara Yoshiaki (Author), Richard Bozulich (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Kiseido Publishing Company; 3rd edition (December 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4906574025
• ISBN-13: 978-4906574025
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dense and Economical..., March 18, 2006

By 

Jeremy Martin (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Basic Techniques of Go (Paperback)

If you know the basic rules of go and want to improve, how do you move from beginner to intermediate play? One option is to buy a bunch of intermediate books, each covering a different topic (like tesuji or handicap play). Sound expensive? Maybe this is the book for you.

As an intermediate book that covers most major elements of the game, "Basic Techniques of Go" is hard to beat. Where else can you find a Go book that covers so many topics? Overall strategy? Got it. Detailed tactics of common positions? Got it. Tesuji? Yose (endgame)? Fuseki? Joseki? Handicap play? Got them all. That being said, the largest sections of this book cover tesuji, yose (endgame), and 9, 6, and 4-stone handicap play.

Now of course, having all these topics means this book is DENSE. Be prepared to work out positions that seem obvious to the authors. Also, the introduction lets you know which chapters are more difficult, so just save those for later (or just skim them).

I only give this book 4 stars because the layout could be more organized. It's systematic enough to be a reference, but it may be hard to find the specific thing you're looking for. Also, the number of Japanese go terms can be a bit daunting, and there is no glossary (this may have been fixed in recent editions).

Overall, I feel that "Basic Techniques of Go" is an excellent whole-game intermediate book that will last you a long time. I think this book will help players ranked 15-kyu to 1-dan, but I especially recommend it for 10-kyu to 5-kyu players.

3.0 out of 5 stars Check out Sensei's Library's Listings first, July 5, 2011

By 

Chris Moore - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basic Techniques of Go (Paperback)

This book is ok, but I find the Davies' series much better organized and comprehensive. At any rate, check out the Sensei's Library lists online first. The study section will tell you what you should consider reading given your skill level.

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book for the beginner, August 18, 2003

By 

Thomas Tamayo "Malweth" (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Basic Techniques of Go (Paperback)

This is a good go book for the beginner. It doesn't teach the basic rules to the game, nor does it discuss initial beginning play, but once you've learned the rules and have played a few games, this book may be a good choice.

I've only gotten part of the way through the book so far, but I have already gotten a lot of good go theory. The book does require some work on your part, either through using a go board while looking at examples, or SGF software. (Some diagrams show the play order of 20 stones, which is hard to read for the beginner).

As a prerequisite to this book, I'd suggest... (A series of newspaper articles on the basics and history of Go).

EDIT: I'm now >3k AGA and have to downgrade this book significantly. Unless you're having significant trouble with very basic play, this book is not for you! I never finished this book - in fact, I never got past somewhere in the middle of the book. I would suggest this only for people who want to know more about handicap play (as black).

I purchased this book by mistake instead of "The Second Book of Go." Although I can't review the latter (having never read it), I'd suggest taking a look at it instead.