Velobici

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Table of contents

Introduction

Velobici plays on KGS (mostly) and IGS (sometimes), when work and children allow him the time. Although, he learned the rules many years ago (back in the days of Unix V5, not SystemV), he has not progressed as well as one might expect. His greatest Go worry these days is staying ahead of his son, whom he taught to play about six months ago (late fall 2001). Unfortunately, he made the error of contacting Mr Yang Yi-lun 7 dan regarding lessons for his son. The probability of continuing to play even games between Velobici and his son does not look good. (2002-08-27)

The situation is getting grimmer for Velobici. His son is improving at the rate of one rank a month, going from 13k to 8k in five months. How long will this continue? I have promised him his own goban and stones when he reaches 1k-1D. (2002-10-03)

Uh Oh, he is now at the midway point between 1k and 1D on KGS. Better order the board, stones and bowls now. (2003-06-01)

He is solidly a 1D on KGS now. Placed his reward, the bowls and stones, on top of his Goban in the living room. Now you might think that at least one of the four kids would notice this change immediately. Took them almost an hour to notice. (2003-08-31).

US Go Congress and Open results look to put the boy at 3D (2004-08-05)

Being the stubborn cuss that he is Velobici has taught his third daughter to play as well. She occasionally joins Velobici and his son at go club on Sunday nights. We will have to see where. this leads. To make matters worse, the youngest child, aged 19 months, is learning to play. We are currently concentrating on the concept of alternating colors. Black. White. Black. White. Doesn't so much matter who plays which color, so long as only one stone is played at a time and the colors alternate. (2005-05-15)


Reading is Everything

It is the basis for all play. The best strategic play, not backed up by good reading will be ripped apart once the other person figures out that one cant read well. So, I am currently working though 1001 Life and Death Problems and will move that to other life and death books, occasionally looking at other material. For too long I have been to weak at reading. That will change, NOW. Interestingly, there is a rare out of print life and death book for professionals by Segoe Kensaku that Kobayashi Koichi has worked through 20 times (as of Go World 37, Autumn 1984). Even still he finds some of the problems difficult after having solved them 19 times previously. Incentive to study life and death daily, read deeper, gain strength.
In the same issue of Go World, it mentions that Kobayashi Koichi worked through all of Shusaku's games 10 times as of the same date. That's 400+ games every 18 months, close to one a day. Surely, after that much study, the methods and patterns of Shusaku's play must become familiar enough that one could try to imagine how Shusaku would play in a given position. (Shades of Hikaru no Go and Fujiwara no Sai ?) I have heard that T Mark Hall, of GoGoD gained two stones in strength by entering all of Go Seigen's games into SGF files. (2003-06-01)

Bill: Sakata pointed out the reading involves not only the calculation of variations, but judgement of the resulting positions. In general he considered judgement to be the more important aspect.

Direction of Play is Everything

One outclassed in reading, has to give way, play conservatively, and hope that one's better direction of play will provide a margin of victory. One outclassing in direction of play will win every skirmish but find no room to maneuver, having been outpositioned throughout the board. One has to be strong in both. The Japanese used to characterize Chinese play as very deep but narrow...deep reading but not as good a sense of direction of play. Thoughts?
Charles: I do at least understand the Japanese attitude. It says 'balance is strength'. A strong amateur told me that if you play in a balanced way, you are ready for promotion. For amateur 5 dan in Europe (i.e. top 100 Europeans, basically) you do need good reading - but, it seems, something more in the way of positional judgement/direction of play. Therefore the good coaches often point out things other than reading mistakes, as keys to improvement. No paradox, in fact.
dnerra: I think it is worth pointing out, however, that Korean go teaching focusses a LOT on life-and-death reading. On the surface, this is clear support for the Reading is Everything school. But on the other hand, life-and-death reading is the one most relevant for strategic decisions, it is essential to judge the weakness of groups. Whereas, say, studying complicated geta problems seems a purely tactical training to me.

Bill: I disagree with the idea that the player who is outclassed in reading but has a better sense of the direction of play has to play conservatively, at least conservatively overall. A typical pattern when the players are evenly matched is for the player with the better sense of the direction of play to take the lead early, and later to play conservatively to try to protect that lead.


On Studying Joseki

One might venture to say that joseki are the result of applying both tesuji and life and death to a single corner beginning with the first stone that the opponent plays. Making an enclosure or an extension would not be joseki because there is only one color of stone in the area. It takes two to tango or to joseki.

Rather than study joseki, study both tesuji and life and death till you are good. Should know all the basic corner shapes by heart, how to live and how to kill. That knowledge forms the basis for studying joseki, in that you can read ahead a series of moves, see that it leads to a shape that you know and either reject that line of play or keep it as a candidate while reading other lines of play. If you dont know the basic shapes, you'll have to read much deeper to reach a conclusion regarding the line of play.


Shusaku Number

My Shusaku number is 6 through several paths:
Shusaku - Iwasaki Kenzo - Shusai - Iwamoto Kaoru - James Kerwin - Yilun Yang - Velobici.
Shusaku - Iwasaki Kenzo - Kita Fumiko - Shiratori Sumiko - Michael Redmond - Yang Yilun - Velobici.
Shusaku - Shuho - Kita Fumiko - Shiratori Sumiko - Michael Redmond - Yang Yilun - Velobici.
Shusaku - Iwasaki Kenzo - Shusai - Takagawa Kaku - Takemiya Masaki - Keith Arnold - Velobici.
Shusaku - Iwasaki Kenzo - Shusai - Go Seigen - Takemiya Masaki - Keith Arnold - Velobici.

And 7 through others
Shusaku - Iwasaki Kenzo - Shusai - Go Seigen - Ohira Shuzo - Jimmy Cha - Yilun Yang - Velobici.
Shusaku - Shuei - Karigane Jun'ichi - Go Seigen - Ohira Shuzo - Jimmy Cha - Yilun Yang - Velobici.
Shusaku - Iwasaki Kenzo - Shusai - Kitani Minoru - Ohira Shuzo - Jimmy Cha - Yilun Yang - Velobici.
Shusaku - Shuei - Karigane Jun'ichi - Kitani Minoru - Ohira Shuzo - Jimmy Cha - Yilun Yang - Velobici.

My tartrate number is 5: tartrate - Zerokun - JVD - yugidragon - Icepick - Velobici.


Quasi-Blog

Quasi-Blog


What I Want

Chinese Language Go Books

  * 21st Century Weiqi Classroom (21世纪围棋教室) set of five books
  * 3-3 Point Method Dictionary 三3技法辞典
  * Attack and Defence of Sides and Corners in Actual Game Situations Drillbook (边角攻防实战训练)
  * Cho Hun-hyeon Weiqi Sucheng 曹薰铉围棋速成 all 3 volumes
  * Fujisawa Shuko Weiqi Classroom 藤泽秀行围棋教室 Volume 5 only
  * FaYang Lun 《围棋发阳论》新解,程晓流解说
  * Heading for Shodan -- Fundamental Problem Collection 迈向初段  基本问题集 3 volumes
  * Honinbo Jowa - Complete Game Collection from Complete Game Collection Series
  * Honinbo Shuei - Complete Game Collection from Complete Game Collection Series
  * Honinbo Shuho - Complete Game Collection from Complete Game Collection Series
  * Honinbo Shusai - Complete Game Collection from Complete Game Collection Series
  * Honinbo Shusaku - Complete Game Collection from Complete Game Collection Series
  * Improve Your Fighting Strength 围棋提高你的战斗力
  * LiChangHo Jingjiang Weiqi Sihuo 李昌镐精讲围棋死活 all 6 volumes
  * LiChangHo Jingjiang Weiqi Shoujin 李昌镐精讲围棋手筋 all 6 volumes
  * Life and Death Brilliant Stratagems (死活妙机)
  * Marvelous Tesuji from Actual Games (實戰妙手筋)
  * Necessary Struggle over Minor Matters 锱铢必争
  * QiJingZhongMiao 棋经众妙 (Japanese: 碁経衆妙 Gokyo Shumyo)
  * Sakata Eio Perfect Weiqi Collection
  * Shoujin de Miaoyong  手筋的妙用 (死活篇)
  * Shuko's Creations
  * Shuko's Perceptions
  * Shuko's World
  * Step by Step Weiqi Classroom Textbooks
  * Step by Step Weiqi Classroom Problem Books
  * Step by Step Weiqi Classroom Synthesis of Weiqi Skills Tests
  * Understand Weiqi in One Month 围棋一月通 7 volumes
  * Weiqi Big Encyclopedia Series volumes on life and death, tesuji, and strategy
  * Weiqi Introductory Problem Collection 围棋育苗工程通迅   围棋入门习题集
  * Weiqi Small Dictionary Series 围棋小辞典 (missing  围棋官子小辞典)
  * Weiqi Technique Encyclopedia (Guanzi Pu) 围棋技巧大全 (官子谱); March 1998 edition
  * Weiqi Ji - Duan Wei Ceshi 围棋级段位测试
  * Weiqi Duan Wei Ceshi 围棋段位测试
  * Weiqi Chuji Jieti Xunlian 围棋初级解题训练. all 3 volumes
  * Weiqi Zhongji Jieti Xunlian 围棋中级解题训练 all 3 volumes
  * Weiqi Gaoji Jieti Xunlian 围棋高级解题训练 all 3 volumes
  * Weiqi Education Practice Workbook 围棋教学习题册
  * Weiqi Life and Death 1000 Problems 围棋死活1000题
  * Weiqi Life and Death Drills 围棋死活训练
  * Weiqi One Month Course 围棋一月通丛书
  * Weiqi Outstanding Collection of Wonderful Moves (围棋妙手集锦)
  * Weiqi Rapid Drill 800 Problems 围棋快速练习800题
  * Weiqi Rumen Yibentong 围棋入门一本通
  * Weiqi Small Book Collection  [ext] 围棋休闲小丛书 all 12 volumes
  * Weiqi Small Dictionary Series missing 围棋官子小辞典, 围棋攻防小辞典
  * Weiqi Step by Step Training 1000 Problems Series volumes 入门篇 and 中级篇
    (missing 初级篇 which would complete the set of three)
  * Weiqi Qiyi 棋艺 -- 2006: February, April, May, August; 2007: May and July
  * Weiqi Tiandi 2004.11, 2004.13-24, 2005.1-6, 2005.14-15, 2005.18, 2005.21, 2006.3-10, 2007.10-13
  * Wu Qingyuan's Collected Games (actually my son's books)
  * Xuanxuan Qijing 玄玄棋經 -- 珍珑棋局破解 from a set entitled 围棋圣经
  * See also: [ext] some of my go books thread in GoDiscussions by tchan001
  * [ext] index for the  GoDiscussions Chinese book thread
  * [ext] 中国围棋史
  * [ext] 围棋新手新型赏析

Sources:


English Language Go Books

  * The 1971 Honinbo Tournament
  * 100 Tips for Amateur Players I
  * 200 Endgame Problems
  * 200 Tesuji Problems
  * 21st Century New Openings Volume 1 and 2
  * The 3-3 Point Modern Opening Strategy
  * 38 Basic Joseki
  * 400 Years of Go in Japan
  * 9 Dan Showdown
  * The ABCs of Attack and Defense
  * After Joseki
  * All About Joseki
  * All About Ko
  * All About Life and Death Volumes 1 and 2
  * All About Thickness
  * Appreciating Famous Games
  * Art of Capturing Stones
  * Art of Connecting Stones
  * Attack and Defense
  * Attacking and Defending Moyos
  * Basic Techniques of Go
  * The Basics of Go Strategy
  * Beauty and the Beast
  * Beginning Go
  * The Best Play In-depth Game Analyses
  * Beyond Forcing Moves
  * The Book of Go by William Cobb
  * Breakthrough Attacking Power Yamashita Style
  * The Breakthrough to Shodan
  * Catching Scent of Victory
  * Changing One's Conceptions Awaji's Aphorisms
  * The Chinese Opening
  * Cho Hun-hyeon's Lectures on Go Techniques, Volumes 1 and 2
  * Cho Hun-hyun's Lectures on the Opening, Volume 1
  * Cho Hun-hyun Life and Master Games with CDrom
  * A Compendium of Trick Plays
  * Contemporary Go Terms
  * Creative Life and Death, Volume 1
  * Cross-cut Workshop
  * Dictionary of Basic Fuseki Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4
  * Dictionary of Basic Joseki Volumes 1, 2 and 3
  * Dictionary of Basic Tesuji (full set)
  * A Dictionary of Modern Fuseki The Korean Style
  * Direction of Play
  * Dramatic Moments on the Go Board
  * An Easy Introduction to Go
  * Enclosure Josekis
  * The Endgame
  * Essential Joseki
  * Even Game Joseki The Nihon Ki-in Handbook Series Volume Five
  * Fighting Ko
  * Final Summit
  * Five Hundred and One Tesuji Problems
  * Five Hundred and One Opening Problems
  * Fujisawa Tesuji Dictionary Volume 1 through 4
  * Fundamental Principles of Go
  * Fuseki  The Nihon Ki-in Handbook Series Volume Two
  * Galactic Go Volumes 1 and 2
  * The Game of Go by Arthur Smith
  * The Game of Go by Matthew Macfadyen
  * The World of Ki
  * The Game of Wei-Chi
  * Get Strong at Attacking
  * Get Strong at the Endgame
  * Get Strong at Handicap Go
  * Get Strong at Invading
  * Get Strong at Joseki Volumes 1, 2, and 3
  * Get Strong at Life and Death
  * Get Strong at the Opening
  * Get Strong at Tesuji
  * Go: An Asian Paradigm for Business Strategy
  * GO Basics -- Concepts And Strategies for New Players
  * Go for Beginners
  * Go as Communication
  * The Go Companion
  * GO: A Complete Introduction To The Game
  * Go Game for Beginners
  * GO: A Guide to the Game
  * Go and Gomoku
  * GO: International Handbook and Dictionary
  * The Go Letter
  * This is Go the Natural Way
  * Go - More Than a Game
  * The Go Players Almanac 2001
  * A Go Primer by Gilbert W Rosenthal?
  * Go Proverbs
  * Go Proverbs Illustrated
  * Go Review Archive
  * Go, The World's Most Fascinating Game
  * Go World Magazine
        Individual issues: 1, 7 - current (126)
        Library bound issues: 5 - 16, 23 - 30
        Archive on DVD: 1 - 108
  * Golden Opportunities
  * Graded Go Problems for Beginners Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4
  * The Great Joseki Debates
  * Handicap Go
  * Hikaru no Go manga Volumes 1 - 23
  * How to Destroy and Preserve number 000069
  * How to Play Go by Kaku Takagawa
  * How to Play Go by Takagawa Shukaku, Sabaki Go Club reprint
  * How to Play Go Game
  * Igo Hatsuyoron Volume 1 (Yutopian)
  * Imagination of a Go Master
  * Improve your Intuition Volumes 1, 2 and 3
  * In the Beginning
  * Ingenious Life and Death Puzzles Volumes 1 and 2
  * Intermediate Level Power Builder Volumes 1 and 2
  * An Introduction to GO
  * An Introduction of Korean Badook Yong Kwan Ju
  * Invincible: The Games of Shusaku
  * Invitation to Go
  * Japanese Game of Go
  * A Journey in Search of The Origins of Go
  * Jungsuk in Our Time: 3-4 Point Jungsuk
  * Kages Secret Chronicles of Handicap Go
  * Kamakura
  * Katos Attack and Kill
  * Keshi and Uchikomi
  * Killer of Go
  * Korean Style of Baduk Volume 1
  * Learn to Play Go Series Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
  * Lee Changho's Novel Plays And Shapes
  * Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go
  * Let's Play Go
  * Level Up Essential Life and Death volumes 2, 3, and 4
  * Life and Death
  * Life and Death Intermediate Level Problems by Maeda Nobuaki
  * Liping Huangs Problem Series Volume 1
  * The Magic of Go by Cho Chikun
  * Magic Of Placements
  * Making Good Shape
  * Mastering the Basics of Go
  * The Master of Haengma
  * Masterpieces of Handicap Go volume 1 and 2
  * Mathematical Go
  * The Meijin's Retirement Game
  * The Middle Game of Go
  * Modern Joseki and Fuseki, Volumes 1 and 2
  * Monkey Jump Workshop
  * Nie Weiping on Go
  * Old Fuseki vs New Fuseki
  * On the Rules of Go
  * One Thousand and One Life and Death Problems
  * Opening Theory Made Easy
  * Otake's Secrets of Strategy
  * Pair Go
  * Perceiving the Direction of Play
  * Positional Judgement
  * The Power of the Star Point
  * Pro-Pro Handicap Go
  * Proverbs  The Nihon Ki-in Handbook Series Volume Three
  * The Protracted Game: a wei-ch'i interpretation of maoist revolutionary strategy
  * Punishing and Correcting Joseki Mistakes
  * Pure and Simple Takao's Astute Use of Brute Force
  * Ranka Yearbook 1986 - 1992
  * Reducing Territorial Frameworks
  * Rescue and Capture
  * The Rules and Elements of Go
  * Sabaki, How to Manage Weak Stones number 000168
  * A Scientific Introduction to Go
  * The Second Book of Go
  * Shuko The Only Move Fighting Middlegame Collection
  * Shuko The Only Move Joseki Fuseki Collection
  * Star Point Joseki The Nihon Ki-in Handbook Series Volume Three
  * Step Up to a Higher Level
  * Steppingstones to Go [ext] http://gobooks.info/step.html
  * Strategic Concepts of Go
  * Strategic Fundamentals in Go
  * Teach Yourself Go
  * Test your Go Strength
  * Tesuji
  * Tesuji and Antisuji of Go
  * Think Like a Pro Haengma
  * Think Like a Pro Pae
  * This is Haengma
  * Train Like a Pro Volumes 1, 2 and answer booklet
  * The Theory & Practice of Go
  * Tournament Go 1992
  * The Treasure Chest Enigma
  * The Treasure Chest Enigma, Second Edition
  * Tricks in Joseki
  * Yilun Yangs Go Puzzles Volumes 1 and 2
  * Understanding How to Play Go
  * Utilizing Outward Influence
  * Vital Points and Skillful Finesse for Sabaki
  * Vital Points of Go by Kaku Takagawa
  * Vital Points of Go by Takagawa Shukaku, Sabaki Go Club reprint
  * The Way of Creating a Thick and Strong Game
  * The Way of Go by Troy Anderson
  * A Way of Play for the 21st Century
  * The Way to Go by Karl Baker
  * Weiqi in Culture Volume 1
  * Whole Board Thinking in Joseki Volumes 1 and 2
  * Whole Board Living Tesujis
  * Winning a Won Game
  * The Workshop Lectures Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
  * The World of Chinese Go
  * Zone Press Park

Japanese Language Go Books

  * The Book to Increase Your Fighting Strength at Go  by Segoe Kensaku, both volumes.
  * Cho U's Tsumego by Cho U (Actually for my son.)
  * Go Reader for True 5 Dan Books volume 4 Getting Strong In The Corner only.
  * Hikaru no Go Volume 1 only.
  * Maeda Tsumego All three volumes.
  * Nihon Ki-in Dan Level Problem Series.  All fourteen volumes.
  * Practical Life and Death Training Drill by Aragaki Takeshi, an NHK Lecture Series book.
  * Segoe Tesuji Dictionary All three volumes (Actually my son's books.)
  * Tsugi no Itte, volumes 1, 3 and 4 only.
  * An Outline of Japanese Go Volume 17: 秀栄 日本囲碁大系 第17巻 (a set of 24 games played by Honinbo Shuei)

Korean Language Go Books

  * New Haengma Dictionary

Spanish Language Go Books

  * Go Para Principiantes

Fiction with a Go theme

  * First Kyu
  * The Girl who Played Go
  * The Master of Go

On-line Problem Collections

Guestbook

messages here


Wildclaw's [ext] Recommendation on Creating SGF Problem Collections

The main feature of Drago is its ability to create starting positions by painting. By holding down the mouse button and dragging the mouse, you can paint stones onto the board. As long as you hold the mouse button, stones will appear where ever you move the mouse cursor. This is much better than having to click on each and every intersection.

Using the other mouse button simply uses the other color. If you drag the mouse over a square that already already contains a stone of the same color it will disappear, and if there is a stone of the opposite color it will change.

In the newest alpha, it is possible to create your own keyboard shortcuts, which decrease the need to use the toolbar buttons. Finally, the biggest new feature in the alpha is the ability to open a complete folder. I have a folder that contains 100 empty sgf files. I simply copy it and open it using the open folder command. After that I can simply use the Next game command to continue with the next file instead of having to open it manually.

This is pretty much the most efficent way I can think of when it comes to creating an SGF file using an editor.


TimK's [ext] comments on creating SGF problem collections

I've entered ~20000 problems for GoGrinder, and the best way I've found is to use Drago. It has a few key features that make it the best: You can drag to add multiple stones, left-click for White and right-click for black, and the keyboard focus stays in the comment area, even after you've made moves or added stones. You can also associate keyboard commands with the different editing tools.


[ext] edgy's study methods

I do a lot of life and death and tesuji problems. I usually try to have three problem books going at a time: one I feel is right around my level (I can get 60-80% right at an average of 30 seconds per problem), one easier (85% or more right at that speed), and one that's a stretch (half right, at however much time I can stand to look at them). I spend about equal amounts of time on each book (60 to 90 minutes a day in total).

Right now (AGA 2 kyu on 24 June 2007):

* stretch: Get Strong at Life and Death, 501 Tesuji Problems, and Art of Connecting Stones.
* current level: 1001 Life and Death Problems, Graded Go Problems for Beginners volume 4, and 200 Tesuji Problems
* easy: Graded Go Problems for Beginners volumes 3 and Get Strong at Tesuji

1001 Life and Death Problems actually starts out as easy and winds up as a stretch, so I use it more than any other. I've gone through it at least six times this year.

That's basically my entire study program. I play 12-18 games per month, all slow, almost all face-to-face. I've gained six or seven stones since I started doing this last October.

Luckily I really enjoy doing problems.


Guidelines for reaching 20k


HKA on AGA Rules

AGA rules are in fact used in AGA tournaments. You have not been to many lately.

The pass stone rule is strange, and it is the only real "sticking point" in the AGA rules. I do not particularly care for it, but it serves a purpose, and it does little harm.

While 7.5 komi (the latest change) has seeped down into club play, passed stones are rarely seen in non tournament games.

And now I will sacrifice my morning trying to explain why the pass stone will NOT change the winner in an odd komi game. (Deep Breath) Ok, IF white is asked to make the last move, then an odd number of stones have been played. That means there is an even number of open spaces left on the board in japanese counting, since the prisoners would have all gone back in. Therefore, with an even total number of points, it can only be divided by two even numbers, or two odd numbers - therefore the score, pre komi is either tied or an even difference So, without the pass stone, the relevant scores on the board would be black leading by 6 or 8. A komi of 7 results in white winning the 6 pt game by 1 - and if he must pass a stone - then he still wins by .5 - therefore no change. If the score is 8, he loses by .5, and passing a stone simply makes it 1.5.

HKA on Studying Tesuji

The perfect world would be to have a translation of the chapter headings in Segoe Tesuji Dictionary (which tell you the type of tesuji) then read the section in Shuko's Dictionary of Basic Tesuji, then do the problems in Segoe. Then after you finish all 6 or 7 books, enter Segoe into a computer to randomize the problems and keep studying.


Rules


Mottos

"Don't count your liberties before they're filled." --- Overheard at the Baltimore Go Club

Teacher: So, what do you think?
"Student: Scary, all those cutting points.
Teacher: Scary? Scary that's okay. Go game always scary. Check, read, it's okay. -- Yang Yilun at a 2005 Go Workshop


How to Send Money Using [ext] PayPal

  1. Log into [ext] PayPal
  2. After login, click on the [ext] Send Money tab. It is one of five tabs at the top of the PayPal? menu bar.
  3. Enter the recipient's email address and the amount of money. Select a Category of Purchase from the drop down list. Enter information in the Note: text area pertaining to the money transfer. lick the Continue button in the lower right corner of the screen.
  4. Verify the information displayed. Especially the Shipping Information. Correct any items using the Edit button in the lower right corner.
  5. When all items are correct, click the Send Money button in the lower right corner.

jfc: I'm in but can you simply state how much to pay you for each book (in USD)? If you are not charging a handling fee of your own I plan to give you a small tip for your trouble ...


How to Embed an SGF Viewer in a Webpage

See [ext] http://herebox.org/go/

Other English Language Go Books

Baek, Jaewook, The Road to One Dan
Barrs, John and Akio Matsui, Learn to Play Go?, 1961
Bozulich, Richard and Shotwell, Peter, Winning Go Successful Moves from the Opening to the Endgame
Bradley, Milton N., The First Book of Go
Bradley, Milton N., Go for Kids
Bradley, Milton, New Go Proverbs Illustrated
Chatterjee, Sangit and Yang Huiren, Cosmic Go
Cheshire, Horace F., Goh or Wei Chi
Cho Hun-hyun, Cho Hun-hyun's Lectures on the Opening, Volume 2
Cobb, William, 4-4 Point Joseki A Brief Introduction
Cobb, William, Go Problems for Kyu Level Players volume 1
Cobb, William, Go Problems for Kyu Level Players volume 2
Cobb, William, Go Problems for Kyu Level Players volume 3
Cobb, William, Go Problems for Kyu Level Players volume 4
Cobb, William, Go Problems for Kyu Level Players volume 5
Cobb, William, Go Problems for Kyu Level Players volume 6
Cobb, William, Learning from the Masters
Cobb, William, Playing the Endgame A Brief Introduction?
Cobb, William, Reflections on the Game of Go 1994-2004?
Dinerchtein, Alexander and An Younggil, New Moves
van Ees, Theo and Franco Pratesi, Bibliogo
Eio, Sakata, Tesuji, 1971
Fairbairn, John, Brilliance Jowas Ghost Moves Destroy Intetsu
Fairbairn, John, Dictionary of Go Names
Fairbairn, John and Hall, T Mark, The Go Consultants
Fairbairn, John, Power Honinbo Shusai Defends The Nihon KiIn
Hamada, Tatsuo, How to Improve Our Go Power?
Hankuk Kiwon, Hankuk Kiwon Guide Book
Hausemann and Hotte, Go Rules of the Game?
de Havilland, W. A., The ABC of Go, 1911
Hunter, Richard, Counting Liberties and Winning Capturing Races
Hunter, Richard, Key Concepts in Life and Death: Inside Moves and Under the Stones Techniques
Hutchinson, Craig, AGA Historical Book?, Edition 1
Hutchinson, Craig, AGA Historical Book?, Edition 2
Hye Yeon, Creative Life and Death Volume 2
Jasiek, Robert Capturing Races 1 Two Basic Groups?
Jasiek, Robert Joseki Volume 1 Fundamentals
Jasiek, Robert Joseki Volume 2 Strategy
Kaiho, Rin, Come up to Shodan
Kim, Sung Rae Inspiration of Pro
Kim, Sung Rae Speed Baduk for Beginners, volumes 1 - 6
Kishikawa, Shigemi Go Fundamentals
Kumabe, N., Let's Play Go Today
Kurume, Masaki, How To Learn Go With EASE
Lee, Jae-Hwan, Level Up
Lee, Jae-Hwan, Level Up Essential Life and Death volume 1
Ma, Xiaochun, The Thirty-six Stratagems Applied to Go
Nakayama, Noriyuki, Magic on the First Line
Nam, Chihyung, Baduk Made Fun and Easy, volumes 1, 2, and 3
Nihon Ki-in, 100 Challenging Go Problems for 100 Days of Study
Nihon Ki-in, Graded Go Problems for Dan Players
Nihon Ki-in, How to Learn Go with Ease
Pratesi, Franco, Eurogo volume 1
Pratesi, Franco, Eurogo volume 2
Pratesi, Franco, Eurogo volume 3
Pratesi, Franco, Periodigo?: Go Periodical Literature in the Western World
Shinji, Takao, 21st Century Dictionary of Basic Joseki
Sloan, Sam, Go Made Easy
Slomann, Aoge, The Game of I-Go?, 1931
Terry, Robert, Amazing Happenings in the Game of Go
Terry, Robert, Startling Beauty of the Game of Go
Wilcox, Bruce, EZ-GO: Oriental Strategy in a Nutshell
Wolf, Thomas Mastering Ladders
Xu Xiang and Jin Jiang Zheng, Master Go in Ten Days
Youngsun, Yoon 100 Tips for Amateur Players II
Youngsun, Yoon 100 Tips for Amateur Players III
Zhou, Yuan, How not to Play Go
Zhou, Yuan, How to Play Handicap Go
Zhou, Yuan, Master Play The Fighting Styles of Kato Masao and Seo Bong Soo
Zhou, Yuan, Master Play - The Seven Top Pros
Zhou, Yuan, Master Play The Style of Go Seigen
Zhou, Yuan, Master Play The Style of Lee Changho
Zhou, Yuan, Master Play The Style of Takemiya
Zhou, Yuan, Master Play The Territorial Styles of Kitani Minoru and Cho Chikun
Zhou, Yuan, Understanding How To Play Go
, Go - Battles of Modern Masters 1905 - 1911

Making Board Wax

Finally something I can contribute to. I'm a much better wood worker than I am a go player.

From the pictures it does seem to look like wear from shifting within the box possibly combined with a small amount of water damage. The hardlined nature between the original finish and the wear looks like it could be water related.

Also, I'm not sure that this board would have been finished purely with wax. While this is true of traditionally made boards, it is not true of many of the boards being made of non-"traditional" materials such as hiba. I would bet that a sort of solvent based laquer was used originally (shellac, oil based laquer, or aromatic solvated laquers) on your board to give it that yellow/orange color and provide protection.

I'm not about to recommend using those to someone who hasn't had much experience choosing and using them so I'm going to recommend safer finishes: wax.

Wax is safe for the board because it is hard to mess up your board with it. However, some solvents used in prepared wax pastes and finishes may mess with the ink in the lines. As always, test any finish on a very small portion of any project, in an unseen place if possible. (as for the lines, try against a line around 1mm in diameter test area).

A wax such as briwax comes in a variety of colors and produces a mat finish instead of a bright mirror finish. Bright wax finishes will have a high content of carnuba/parafin wax vs beeswax. Mat/soft finish waxes will have higher content of bees wax vs etc.

A simple finish that can be made contains a rough percentage of 5 parts beeswax (yellow or white) 3 parts turpentine 1 parts boiled linseed oil

First add the oil, then the wax. Once all is melted, add the turpentine and stir. Cap and put in the fridge to cool. Add some skull and crossbones if you like. Resultant hard cream mixture will be spreadable at room temperature and dry to a semi-hard finish.

Rubbed on thinly, then buffed out with brown paper or cheesecloth, this should provide a good looking finish that should match most finishes. Store in a cool dark place with a lid.

WARNING Do not mix over open flame. Use of a nested or double boiler recommended. Do not use your kitchen pots and pans (because your wife will kill you). Not responsible for loss of life, limb, or spouse. Instructions per [ext] foxfyre841 on GoDiscussions

Waxing a Go Board

You want to use a high quality, natural, SOFT wax.

Your best bet is to buy a block of bees wax, freeze it, remove from the freezer and shave a good amount off using a kitchen grater (Warning: This will leave spots of wax on the grater that are terribly difficult to remove... but it's just beeswax).

Take the shaved wax and melt it SLOWLY using a sauce pan or a crock pot (see previous warning). Heating beeswax too quickly is dangerous. Also, I wouldn't use a microwave for this.

Once you've melted the beeswax, use a clean paintbrush to apply the liquified wax to the whole board. This is a messy process. The wax will dry quickly once applied so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind, if you take the wax off of your heat source it will tend to dry up fast.

After the wax on the board has dried, take a soft cloth or cotton t-shirt and wipe it up. You can use a blow dryer on a low setting to reheat the excess wax on the board, making it much easier to work it out. Remember, you just want to take the excess off and even out the coating.

Once done, let sit for an hour or so and enjoy the finished product.

Instructions per Mr. Hirotaka Kuroki on GoDiscussions by way of [ext] Could E Head

Dang Dang

I thought someone might be interested in a case study.

I've just ordered the 10 volumes of Li Chang Ho's tesuji and life and death collections that weren't out of stock, through dangdang. The 10 volumes (not vol 1 of tesuji and vol 5 of life and death) came to 111 Renminbi and delivery to England was 65 Renminbi, which comes to 15.7 British pounds in total. As comparison, to buy a complete set of 6 from Ebay would have been 55 pounds including postage.

I don't read Chinese at all so it was slow work. I used google translate.

note: I didn't make detailed notes, but here's some brief notes before I forget.

1) copied down the isbn numbers from SL
2) Searched for one on the main dangdang search tab
3) clicked the green button - add to temporary cart - this brought up a please log in. A button near the bottom translated as new customer? fast registration. Clicked it.
4) entered some personal details in the page. got sent a registration email. Clicked on the link - yay logged in.
5) back to searching for books. isbn numbers. (could have copied the names).
6) click green buttons to put in the temporary cart. The small popup window says sucessfully put in cart. The link sends you to the cart.
7) go to the cart. Some items don't have an orange button and do have red text - out of stock. The small text to the right means remove item.
8) not quite sure how I did it but then transfer the items to the proper cart.
9) check details and pay. Google translate 'United Kingdom' -> Chinese was needed to select my country. There is a payment option for international credit cards when you get there.

edit again - clicking on the orange button from the start would have avoided #8!

Other

Comment Area

Velobici, I think we're in agreement on BQM 328. Personally, I'd transpose to the 5-4 joseki, but as you say, white has other choices too. --Andy Other note: I didn't (deliberately) edit your terms in Asian languages above. Might be a "feature" of either Sensei's or the Safari browser I'm using. :( I hope I didn't mess it up.


Velobici: I notice you've been creating pages for several books published by Chengdu Shidai in China. Some of these, like the Japanese Three Saints book, are translations of fairly modern books, probably still in copyright. Do you have any idea whether these translations are published with permission of the Nihon Ki-in? Also, where can the Chinese versions be bought? By the way, I posted a brief review of the Three Saints book based on the original Japanese versions, which I have copies of.--Bob McGuigan

Bob, I do not know what the relationship is between Chengdu Shidai Publishing and the Nihon Ki-in regarding the books in the Complete Game Collection Series. I am simply a reader/consumer of these books, and quite thankful that I have a colleague at work who returns to China each New Year. She has been willing to bring back a few weiqi/go books for me each trip. The books can be purchased from either www.amazon.cn or www.dangdang.com

Thanks, Velobici. I think it's wonderful that the complete games collections are available in some form or other since in Japan they are either out of print for many years or only available as collectors' items at very high cost. The Three Saints book, though, seems to be a translation of contemporary books that are not just collections of game records and the original authors are not even credited on the cover. But I don't have the Chinese book and only know what I see on the cover in the photo you posted so it's possible I'm mistaken. --Bob

The forward of this book states that the chinese version is translated and edited from the original books published by the Nihon Ki-in. It shows the names of the original Japanese authors along with the name of the series it comes from, "The Classical Famous Games Selection". --tchan001


Bob McGuigan: I was happy to see that you created a page for the series of books Nihon Igo Taikei but I think the title needs to be changed. What you wrote is a kanji by kanji translation of the Japanese title but it misses the meaning. A closer translation is what I put on the actual page itself: An Outline of Japanese Go (I can't change page titles). Taikei means "outline" in the sense it is used in something like "Outline of European History". Other words which might be used are survey or overview. The "big" character refers to the large scale view of the subject, not the size of the books or the length of the series.

By the way there is a bigger series of books Gendai Igo Taikei which means "Outline of Modern Go" and includes more than 40 volumes devoted to players who made their names in the 1970's or '80s, e.g. Kajiwara, Ishida, Rin, Otake, Kato, Cho Chikun, Kobayashi Koichi, etc.

If I'm not mistaken all of the volumes in both of these series are out of print.

Velobici: Bob, I can't change page titles either. Rather I added the request to the Page name change requests page so that a librarian can do the name change.

tchan001: It nice that you have made a lot of pages on books on SL to show people what is available. If you do use my pix and my content from my threads on GD, would it be too much to ask for acknowledgement of where the content originated. I have spent quite a lot of money and time collecting my books and translating information for western go players.

Velobici: Thank you very much for sharing this finformation with us as you have created and filled out your collections. Hopefully I have added notations, as I created the pages, to the original on GoDicussions?. I see that I neglected to do so on the Necessary Struggle over Minor Matters page (added now), but did manage to do so on the An Outline of Japanese Go page. Is this what you had in mind ? If access to the photos is causing any issue, please let me know. With your permission, I could host the photos elsewhere to relieve that issue, hopefully.

tchan001 Yes, having a link to the original post on Godiscussions is fine as an aknowledgement. It would be great to have the links to the posts reflect the number of views on each GD thread accurately. At times there seems to be certain ways of linking which skips the views count. Currently my free account at photobucket seems to be able to handle the traffic and I have kept the size of each photo there small so that the bandwidth used does not overwhelm the limitations of the free account status. If you would like to host my photos on your own server, you have my permission to do so.

Velobici: It would be great to have the links to the posts reflect the number of views on each GD thread accurately. said tchan001. How would we do that ?

tchan001: Let's say we are looking at the first post on my chinese books thread. If you go to the chinese books thread normally via the forum, there is a number for the post number 1 on the far right. The link associated with that number works to show the views accurately. The format inside that link should show something like "showpost.php?p=37953&postcount=1" Links which do not access via the thread and postcount, but instead directly accesses via a number associated with the individual post, do not reflect in the thread view numbers.


Gresil: Hi—last year you asked me about whether I found 501 Opening Problems more difficult or easier than 501 Tesuji Problems. I'd not read the latter and couldn't answer. Now I can: I find there's at least a five-stone difference between them. While the opening book feels quite accessible to even a strong DDK, the tesuji book is very tough for someone weaker than 5 kyu or so it seems.


tapir: Hi Velobici! I would like to know what you think about the review template. Will somebody use it in future or is it removable?

Velobici: Since it has not been adopted and used for a number of books after being available for a year, might be best to either delete it or launch an effort to edit the existing book reviews to use the template. I am fine with either decision.


Archive



Velobici last edited by Malcolm on February 7, 2023 - 19:56
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