Customer Reviews

Go for Beginners

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was my first book on go. There's no question that it has all the information anyone could ever need to get started playing what I consider the greatest game in the world. However, for most Westerners, the material is very difficult to digest. I believe there are a couple of reasons for this: first, remember that this is one of the top players of the last century, writing a book for beginners. He's lost some of the appreciation for the hefty learning curve the game imposes on the uninitiated. It can be discouraging when he tells you how "easy" some of this stuff is (which, of course, is true once you understand it, but not at first). Second, as some have noted, the book is "concise." I might go a step further and call it "dense." I like this quality in books I read now (as a better player), but as a beginner, it was tough. Third, Iwamoto takes a bottom-up approach, which probably works for some, but left me missing the forest for the trees. A section typically begins with an example (board diagram), and says "In this situation, White needs to play at X, or Black will capture three stones at Y." The principles behind the examples tend to be glossed over, and without a background in the game, I had no idea how to generalize.

Eventually, I did in fact absorb all this material, even without a mentor to help my play along. With the benefit of hindsight, however, I find Janice Kim's "Learn To Play Go" series much, much easier to digest at the beginner level. True, Iwamoto covers in one book what Kim covers in four, but the first two suffice to get you rolling without banging your head against the wall (important if we're going to spread the GOspel throughout the West).

I am only a beginning Go player, but I have ransacked the bookstore shelves for a solid introduction to the game, and this work is by far the best.

Part I provides an amazingly clear explanation of the rules. Part II explains the basic strategy and tactics necessary to play an opponent and understand what you are doing. The only serious alternative, Janice Kim's series of volumes, moves at a snail's pace ideal for people unused to playing other strategy games (for example, chess). Although Kaoru Iwamoto wrote this book in the 1970's, it has the look and feel of a work written in the 1990's. You will be captivated and inspired to pursue the game further.

Incidentally, beginners in search of Go opponents should take advantage of the free real-time services on the Internet. You can watch games between world-class players or challenge any of hundreds of ranked opponents. Along with buying this book, I recommend visiting IGS Panda Net, registering yourself, and downloading gGo and GNU Go.

Since learning the essentials of Go in 1978, I've read two exceptional books for beginners: this one by Iwamoto, and "Go: A Guide to the Game" by D.B. Pritchard (an out-of-print book published by Stackpole Books in 1973). Both books give the neophyte a glimpse into the game's unmatched strategic and tactical subtlety - far greater than that of chess - and its storied past, and both build a solid foundation for developing true mastery. Iwamoto's scheme of organization is excellent, and the sequencing of the basic elements is very logical. I needed several readings in order to digest all the densely packed concepts and examples, but I persisted, reminding myself that it would be unrealistic to expect easy and early prowess in such a deceptively simple "children's" game. I would recommend that a would-be Go player read this book while playing (i.e., freely experimenting and improvising) with computer Go - David Fotland's "The Many Faces of Go" is an outstanding and user-friendly software package.

Although there are much better introductions to this arguably greatest of all games now available (e.g., Janice Kim's books and, especially, Cho Chikun's _The Magic of Go_), these later works would probably not have existed if Iwamoto's classic (along with the works of Korschelt, Lasker, and Fairburne(sp)) had not generated enough interest in the West to justify their publication.

If you can tough-out this work, you are probably Shodan material, but, if it proves too daunting, fall-back to Kim or Chikun. Then, after it all makes sense to you, revisit Iwamoto; the insights of a 9-Dan are invaluable to any player.

Iwamoto was one of the world's best players in the 1940s -- during his reign as Honinbo he was probably second only to the outstanding Go genius Go Seigen. His classic book takes one from absolute beginner to having a fair idea of life and death, openings, endgames, and some positional judgement. Two games against all-time greats are rather difficult for beginners though. I basically learned how to play go from this book, and this and a few casual games took me to about 7-8 kyu before I joined a proper go club.

This classic text is a wonderful introduction to the game. I especially enjoy the problems sprinkled throughout the book. They make for great subway/bathroom diversion, while building intuition for the game.

At present, there are numerous introductory go books available in the english language. Older titles occasionally go out of print, so it is sometimes necessary to create new ones to accomodate the next generation of players. Fortunately, Iwamoto's classic book has been continually available since its publication in the early 1970's. It follows an older style of writing and presentation characterized by concise exposition and the abundant use of Japanese terminology. The author seems to be writing primarily for a mature audience with a sincere interest in learning the basic rules of the game. Therefore, it may be unsuited to younger readers accustomed to the more contemporary manuals written in a casual and conversational style. 'Go For Beginners' was one of the first books about Go written in the english language and it still remains one of the finest. I give it the highest recommendation.

This 1972 book by Kauro Iwamoto is the single easiest and best book for learning the game of Go. The subjects cover all that is needed for the beginner to this game to learn and quickly grasp the fundamentals of the game. Includes a demonstration game on a 9X9 board as well as 2 of Kauro's own games,from 1949 vs Kitani and from 1926 against Honinbo Shusai. I have learned more about Go from this book than any other.

This is a pretty good book for learning the game. It covers all the rules and many elementary tactics as well as a little bit of strategy. The book is easy to understand and follow. I thought it was slightly overwhelming though. Everything was described a little too concisely. That is, I could only read 10-20 pages at a time before I was overloaded with information.

What I liked most about the book was that the chapters were broken up by problem sections which tested one's understanding of the material just covered.

There are a dozen books on Go easily available. Some focus on novel teaching techniques or plenty of diagrams. Some books pay too much attention to the division between the beginning middle or end game or show too many examples. This grand old book has the perfect balance. Whats required is patience and a conceted effort to understand the initial concepts. Its important to play along with the book and play often, with good players. Together you can become good. Ofcourse a lot of practice and latent and you can become great. Five Stars