Customer Reviews

The Book of Go

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first book on Go that I've read, and I thought it made an excellent introduction to the game. Go can be a difficult game to learn; even though the rules are very simple, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of possibilities on every turn. This book makes the game easily accessible, and it does so with a legion of illustrative examples and text that's very easy to digest.

The book begins by teaching First-Capture Go, which is a simplified version of the game in which the player who makes the first capture wins. It's a little easier to learn than the full game, and it makes for a good transition into Go itself. After the transition into the full game, the book discusses the various types of connections, basic strategy for the overall game, the concepts of life and death, and common capturing tactics. Each section contains sample problems to work on, and full sample games with the author's commentary. There is also a set of additional problems for study at the end of the book, as well as recommendations for further reading.

The book is a bit short; you'll probably get through it very quickly, and it only covers the basics, so advanced players won't get anything out of it. For beginners, though, this is an excellent place to start learning this fantastic game.

This book comes in a unique format: spiral bound and including 9x9 and 13x13 Go boards and the pieces to play. And it provides a nice overview of the game, but really it often left me either scratching my head or thirsting for more. I still am a bit confused by scoring and how to deal with 'dead pieces.' The suggestion is to keep playing if there's a dispute over whether a piece is dead, but it seems to me that you can force the other player to give up terrain that way. I would've like to have that explained in more depth (and that's just one example...there were a few concepts that I thought were dealt with a bit too briefly).

Of a more personal nature is a problem with how the game is taught. The author begins by teaching "First Capture Go" which is a kind of sub-set of the full game. This is great if you have someone to play with, but in my case I was playing against a computer program or via various internet sites, none of which supported this variation of the game. I'm sure this is a great way to teach, *if* the reader has a friend who is also trying to learn the game.

It would've been ideal to include a CD-ROM with a version of "First Capture Go" for readers to practice against. The cd could've also included some of the excellent open source Go products on the net.

Still, as an *introduction* to Go, the book succeeds; by the time you're finished with it you'll probably have either decided that Go isn't the game for you, or you'll be ready for a more in-depth book.

This is an ideal book for the absolute beginner to the game. He starts you off with a simplified version of the game called First Capture Go then proceeds to slowly introduce new concepts that move you along without overwhelming you. The result of this way of writing the book is that the absolute beginner likes the game because the problems are geared to his/her way of seeing the board. If a 'beginner' book is too complex, it might turn a would be go-fanatic into someone who's afraid of the game.

He gives a recommended reading list at the end of the book for those who want a deeper appreciation of the game.

My only problem with it was the mini-board that comes with it was a little to mini- to be useful for me. After you find the killer solution to the snap-back that kills 7 of your opponents stones, you pretty much need a pair of tweezers to remove the said stones without destroying the position on the board; that was my experience anyway.

You can get around that problem by downloading an open-source goban/sgf editor if you want to play through the exercises - don't let the poor quality of the board discourage you from getting the book.

First off, it comes with it's own 9x9 and 13x13 boards, and pieces to play. Then is teaches you a simple way of playing first-capture go. It then proceeds to educate you in the game of go, with lots of problems and suggestions to help you learn, and become a good player. I highly reccomend it to beginners (like myself) and people who know how to play, but want to improve and learn some of the tricks of the trade.

I bought this book after tried online go for a bit. I knew the rules so I wanted a basic book for the fundamentals. I was quite dissappointed with the content of the book. The first five chapters are totally irrelevant to the real go game. The author decided to include first-capture go for some reason. It's nice to get the background knowledge, but devoting half the book to something even small kids would get bored in an hour is totally beyond me.

The book comes with plastic pieces and a 13x13 paper goban. I tried it with my girlfriend and we couldn't even make the pieces stay. So that's useless unless you have tiny figures or you use a tweezer while playing.

I don't recommend you to buy this book. If you want to learn, buy something more challenging. Otherwise you will be disappointed.

I got into go from reading a Japanese comic, and not being able to compleatly comprehend the game i went shopping to find a book to learn. i saw this book and didnt want to get it at first but because the store didnt have anything else, i bought it.

after reading the first chapter i was hooked and the book explained everthing so well. the game the author first teaches you gives you a great concept of play. and when he introduces the actual game he explains it in sections and it all fits together great. i learned pretty quick from this book, im not the greatest yet but this book gave me a great base to go from.

Like the title says if you want to learn how to play go BUY THIS BOOK. it is a must have for the beginner.