Customer Reviews

Master Go in Ten Days

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... beggars would ride. And if go could be mastered in ten days, everyone would be a master...

Similarly, it's possible, but not likely, to "master go" (i.e., achieve a 1 dan amateur ranking -- the equivalent of a strong chess expert) in ten days, but only if that means spending twenty-four hours studying and mastering the material in each day's lesson. Master Go covers a lot of useful material, but don't expect to master it ten days . . . or ten weeks. And don't expect to be a master if you do. The publisher of this title says that the book is intended to help you along the path to reaching a low kyu level.

The first lesson covers the basic rules, strategies and tactics of the game as well as the differences between the Japanese and Chinese scoring systems. I don't know why this lesson was included. It covers material found in introductory books, but the treatment here is too abbreviated for beginners and unnecessary for players who already know the rules. Beginners should start with the first two volumes of Janice Kim's Learn to Play Go series or Cho Chikun's Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game instead.

The other nine lessons cover tactics for capturing stones, opening strategy, basic josekis, life and death, tesujis, attack and defense, the endgame, and annotated games. In general, the material I already understood was explained better in other books. The material I did not understand beforehand was still confusing after studying these lessons. I found the lessons most helpful in identifying gaps in my understanding. If you completely understand everything the author covers in a given lesson, then you probably have a pretty good grasp of the topic, and the lesson serves as a useful refresher. But if you don't understand the concepts presented, then you know you have some studying to do. Chances are, you'll need to look elsewhere or review the material with a stronger player in order to fill the gaps.

The explanations are so terse that in some instances they are literally wrong. For example, the lesson on Life and Death classifies several life and death positions as alive, which are actually unsettled. The weaker side can live, but the other side can kill the group if it goes first. This seems to be a result of the author trying to cover too much material in too short a space.

Mastering Go in Ten Days should help most mid kyu players identify the areas that most need improvement in their game. Where the book falls somewhat short is in explaining the concepts in sufficient detail to fill those gaps in understanding. For more accessible and more in depth explanations of the material touched upon here, I'd recommend Bozulich's Second Book of Go, Kageyama's Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go and the volumes in the Elementary Go Series.

i think that's about how long terry buck has been playing go. of course, he didn't have this book to help him.

he really stinks!