Learn to Play Go, Vol. 4: Battle Strategies [Paperback]

Jeong Soo-Hyun (Author), Janice Kim (Author), Brian D'Amato (Illustrator)

Book Description

CHECK FOR THE 2ND EDITION PUBLISHED 12/12/2011 Volume IV of the award-winning Learn to Play Go series. Covers essential principles of fighting in the middle game, including invasion and reduction, attack and defense, life and death, capturing races, and ko fighting. Includes test yourself section and index.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Learn to Play Go is] by far the clearest English-language introduction yet published. --Games Magazine

About the Author

Janice Kim was born in Illinois in 1969. She became the first female student at the Korean Go Academy in 1983 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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Good Move Press; 1st edition (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964479648
• ISBN-13: 978-0964479647
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #316,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Less Organized, More Thoughtful, August 30, 2002

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Learn to Play Go, Vol. 4: Battle Strategies (Paperback)

This is currently the last of four books written by Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-hyun. The first two volumes are designed to take a newcomer to the game of Go and help them achieve a modest but significant level of competence. The third volume is best suited to the player who has achieved some comfort with hand-to-hand combat and is ready to approach the more complex tactical and strategic levels of the game. This volume focuses on the middle game, where territory is truly lost or gained. A player must walk a tightrope between strategy and tactics in this phase while balancing attack and defense.

There is so much going on the board during the middle game that it is genuinely difficult to write a book that teaches more than a single facet of playing the middle game. This can make studying frustrating. What Kim and Soo-hyun have done is written an introduction to the middle game that, while it does not dig deep into the layers of complexity, provides a framework whereby the student can determine where best to focus. In doing so, they have achieved something unique.

The first half of the book focuses on the middle game itself. It opens with a section on invasion and reduction, followed by further material on battle strategies, attack, and defense. The second half discusses life and death. This includes the making of living shapes, the art of killing groups of stones, and handling capturing races. There is also a very good discussion on Ko fighting which goes into surprising detail. As is true of the entire series, the discussion is easy to understand, and examples are plentiful.

I should point out that the apparent organization of the book is a bit deceptive. The nature of the material is such that some serendipity is inevitable. Discussion of principles is mixed in with a lesson about a particular attack or tesuji. As such, this book needs to be read several times to get all of its contents fixed in one's mind. Some might consider this a fault, but I know of almost no other book that sets out to cover what this one does without falling victim to the same problem. For the player who understands that most improvement comes from hard work, this book is a real blessing. Highly recommended.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Broad in principle. Shallow in depth., April 17, 2006

By 

Michael Anuzis (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learn to Play Go, Vol. 4: Battle Strategies (Paperback)

The most attractive quality of this book is its ease of understanding. It introduces important strategic concepts of go such as reducing Vs. invading in a way even the most recent beginner can understand.

The pitfall is limited depth. In contrast to books from the Elementary Go Series (In the Beginning, Tesuji, Life and Death, etc.), Kim's Vol. IV - Battle Strategies gives the reader markedly less learning potential.

In my case, after the first reading the ideas had been acquired and there was little worth referring back to. I haven't picked it up since I read it. Whereas, books from the Elementary Go Series continue to challenge me and improve my game even after the 3rd\4th readings, and I expect they will continue to for months to come.

I might recommend Kim's book to the recent beginner looking for a light read. It's also well suited for young players who would have difficulty concentrating on the more dense books of the Elementary Go Series.

Overall, an enjoyable read, a breeze to understand, but lacking in depth when compared to other books available with the same price and topic. In my case, it left something to be desired.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what a 15~5 Kyu player needs!, April 19, 2009

By 

Y. Rhee (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learn to Play Go, Vol. 4: Battle Strategies (Paperback)

I don't know why there are the below negative reviews, but I am currently (April 19, 2009) a 13kyu player and this book had everything I needed to advance my playing level.

Granted, they are not too much in depth, but each chapter provides key examples of the concepts they provide.

The very first chapter, for example, is invasion vs reduction - and it shows you when to invade and when to reduce, and how exactly you accomplish it using a shoulder hit or a cap stone, using examples.

The book is a very light read - which I enjoy very much because it's easier to digest, and the explanations are very clear.

For me, as with the previous 3 books, an easy 5/5 stars.

If you're a mid kyu go player, I think you should really invest in this book!