A Master's Guide to the Ultimate Game. The award-winning first book in the Learn to Play Go series by Janice Kim 3 dan and Soo-hyun Jeong 9 dan, two masters of the 4,000-year-old Asian game of strategy. Takes the complete beginner step-by-step all the way to playing real Go in fourteen chapters that can be read in 10-15 minutes each, each with a try-it-yourself section at the end. Suitable for kids, demystifies the learning process for adults.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
By far the clearest introduction yet published in English. --Games Magazine
About the Author
Janice Kim was born in Illinois in 1969. She became the first female student at the Korean Go Academy and entered the professional dan ranks in Korea in 1987, the first Westerner ever to do so. She won the Fuji Women's Championship in 1984, took second place in the World Youth Championship in 1985, and third place in the EBS Cup in 1994. In 1998 she represented the US in the Bohae Cup. She was promoted to 3 dan in 2003. After graduating from New York University, Ms. Kim authored the five books of the Learn to Play Go series and founded the online Go company Samarkand. In 2008, in an effort to explore similarities in strategy games, she played in the World Poker Tour's Women's Championship in Las Vegas and placed fourth. She currently resides in the San Francisco bay area with her husband and two children.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
127 of 129 people found the following review helpful
By W. Poon
Format:Paperback
I don't get the superlative praises which have been lavished on this book. I became interested in Go recently, and if you've played the game at all, you realize very quickly that knowing the rules alone doesn't get you very far in terms of figuring out how to play it! Given that, I was looking for a beginner's book which goes beyond teaching the rules - which are fairly simple anyway, but also imparts enough guidance and insights in terms of strategy and tactics that a beginner would start to feel comfortable about playing it - what to look for, how does one approach different phases of the game, etc. Perhaps this is too much to ask of a single beginner book to Go, but I found this book particularly lacking in that regard relative to others of its kind. I didn't come away after finishing it feeling much more confident about knowing how to play the game as when I started reading it. I've browsed through Iwamoto's(?) "Go for Beginners" and found it to be a more complete introduction and just as straigtforward to follow. Since then, I've started reading the "Graded Go Problems for Beginners" series and found it to be the most helpful in terms of learning the game.
Not that the praises for this book is wholly undeserved. This is a very well-exposited introduction to the game. Whatever it covers, this book takes you by the hand and treats in a easy-to-follow manner. Coupled with the easy-on-the-eye layout, this may well be the gentlest introduction to the game that you can find. ("Go for Dummies" may be a more apt title as another reviewer has noted!)
In summary, my advice would be to consider this book if you are a complete beginner (ie. with no knowledge of the game) and find other introductions to be overwhelming. If you're attracted to the style of this series but are already familiar with the rules and the most rudimentary concepts like two-eyes, you will find starting with the second book of the series (which recaps and extends on the concepts introduced in this book) more fulfilling. Also consider the alternatives mentioned earlier.
81 of 83 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the first book is a series of four (as of 2002) which are intended to help a potential player go from a complete beginner to a reasonable competent amateur. This is no trivial undertaking, for the simplicity of Go's rules hide and incredible complexity of play. Not only are bad habits hard to undo, but the gap between the lower levels of play are so large that it can be very discouraging to climb the first few hills.
What Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-hyun have done here is to present the central ideas of the game in a careful, step-wise manner that is readable by anyone from about nine years old on. If a parent were willing to take the time, he or she could use this book to learn enough to teach a much younger player. Yet the information presented is still substantial, covering the basics of life, forming territory, capturing, connecting, and Ko fighting. I hate to admit it, but I found a thing or two in it that I had forgotten.
Frequent examples and questions are provided so that the reader has many opportunities to test his or her knowledge. Little bits of Go history are provided as well. In the back of the book is a cardboard folding board and pop out playing pieces. These are a really too small for a playing adult, although they would make a neat lightweight traveling package for working out puzzles and playing in unexpected places. It does allow a child to get some practice playing before then investment in a decent board and pieces it made.
I have been recommending this series to people for some time, since really good texts for beginners are rare. However, I have never taken the time to read them from cover to cover. Having done so, I am quite impressed. I do think that at one should buy at least the second volume in this series as well. This book reads very quickly, and one needs a bit more for a fair start. One thing is certain, it would be hard to get a better start at the world's most popular board game.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By John Raggio
Format:Paperback
I just finished reading Janice Kim's book, "Learn to Play GO" for the second time. It is fantastic. I bought the book based on a suggestion from somebody on the Yahoo game server. It's actually a funny story. I started playing the game after reading the rules very quickly. The rules I read made no mention of eyes. This, as you all know, caused me great pain when playing. I lost a 9x9 game 81-0. My opponent offered, "Do you want some advice?" I said, "Sure." His reply was simply, "Buy Learn to Play Go by Janice Kim." I bought it the next day and have since bought four more copies as gifts for friends. It's actually just a ploy on part to get more people to play with. ;-)
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book I have seen for new players
I have read four different books explaining the basics of Go, and I consider this one the best. In addition to showing you good moves, the author is careful to show you how bad... Read more
Published 11 days ago by H. Anthony Martin
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book!
I probably would have given this book 5 stars had I not discovered a website that is even better at teaching for you actualy play against the computer. Read more
Published 2 months ago by LW Raboys
5.0 out of 5 stars
Learn to Play Go
I bought this book as a gift for my daughter. I am reading it also, in order to play the game with her. The diagrams and explanations are easy to follow and understand. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mama Mia
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent beginners book.
Excellent beginners book that does a good job of introducing and explaining the fundamentals of Go. I think she hits on all the key points that can get you up and playing, but... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Joe C.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great start
This book covers those questions you have concerning this game. Tells of useful techniques. This is a great way to get the hang of GO
Published 6 months ago by Peter Overton
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good intro to a very good series
This book is the first in a series by Janice Kim, translated from Korean. As the title implies, this is a starter book for beginners. Read more
Published 14 months ago by David
5.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful Guide for learning Go.
Great introduction to Go. The rules are concisely explained with thorough examples. You also get a taste of the culture of Go and history behind it. Read more
Published 15 months ago by RKMM
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fast but interesting introduction
Starting with the basics, the book starts from the very basics and moves rather quickly. The little abstract drawings are a distraction rather than a help. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Odd Bodd
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fairly good book for absolute beginners
I've read a few beginner's books on Go, and feel each has its pros and cons.
Regarding vol. Read more
Regarding vol. Read more
Published 23 months ago by dsm1980
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poorly written
She was a 3-dan when she wrote this book, and because she wrote it for the money, this book is very poorly written according to me. Read more
Published on May 12, 2011 by J.Twain
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 1
book:
3
books
cite this book:
- The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata on page 121
- Learn to Play Go, Vol. 4: Battle Strategies by Jeong Soo-Hyun in Front Cover, Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- Learn To Play Go, Volume II: The Way of the Moving Horse by Janice Kim in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- Learn to Play Go, Vol. 3: The Dragon Style by Janice Kim in Front Matter
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