Go Books
Most books on Go are written in one of the Chinese, Japanese, or Korean languages. This makes them somewhat less accessible to the majority of western Go enthusiasts.
There are a number of web sites devoted to books about Go. Among these are:
- AGA
Go Books List, very nice for books that are currently available.
- AGA
Archive Index maintained by Craig R. Hutchinson is by far the most complete (but exceedingly terse).
- American Go E-Journal Book reviews by year:
2003,
2004,
2005,
2006,
2007
- BenGoZen's
Book Reviews for an actively growing list of book reviews from a kyu player's perspective.
-
Bibliographie du Go en français (French) is a link collection of books in French and other languages.
-
Bibliografia italiana di Go (Italian) is a link collection of books in Italian and other languages.
- David Carlton's
Go Bibliography, a good English language reference on Go books, though it hasn't been updated lately. Site includes reviews of most Go books. Robert Jasiek has an
ISBN Rating List.
- European Go Bibliography Just enter your term. Catalogue containing the extensive collection of Theo van Ees, easy to use.Now up to date.
- Go Books
http://gobooks.nemir.org/index.html offers cover pictures, detailed book information and incorporates David Carlton's Reviews, the AGA E-Journal's reviews and reviews from other sources.
- Go Game Guru's
Recommended Go Books for advice about which books to read at different levels, designed to help players improve quickly.
-
Life in 19x19 Go Books and Go Books Reviews forums, currently has reviews by members of over 50 go books.
- Sensei's Library itself, Recommended Go Books section or the home pages of crux and Velobici.
The Dewey Decimal Classification DDC for Go books is 794.4.
The Universal Decimal Clasification UDC is confusingly 794.2 (Board games not dependent on chance other than chess).
Each of us is different in our approach to Go, our experience of the game, our likes and dislikes. So... What is your favorite Go Book? On the other hand, What is your least favorite Go Book?
Apart from these books on playing Go, there are also some Non-Fiction publications involving go, Literature, and other References to Go. In addition, Ritchie Press has published many Go books on how to become a very strong player: Get Strong at Go Parodies.
Look here for Coming Soon and Go Book Rumors.
Table of contents |
Books that Cover the Entire Game
For Beginners
Theory
- First Fundamentals by Robert Jasiek
- So You Want to Play Go Level 1 by Jonathan Hop
- The Book of Go - William Cobb
- The Game of Go - Matthew Macfadyen
- EZ-GO: Oriental Strategy in a Nutshell - Bruce Wilcox
- Go for Beginners - Iwamoto Kaoru
- Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game (formerly The Magic of Go) - Cho Chikun
- Go-- More Than a Game - Peter Shotwell
- Go Basics -- Concepts And Strategies for New Players - Peter Shotwell
- Go The World's Most Fascinating Game an amusing text by the Nihon Ki-in
- Learn to Play Go Series - Jeong Soo-hyun & Janice Kim
- The Second Book of Go - Richard Bozulich
- Teach Yourself Go - Charles Matthews
- The Way of Go - Troy Anderson
- Zug um Zug - arcana
- Go. Grundlagen und elementare Techniken - Thomas Hillebrand
- Level Up - Lee Jae-Hwan
Problems
- Graded Go Problems for Beginners volumes 1 & 2 - Kano Yoshinori
- Black to Play. Train the Basics of Go. by Gunnar Dickfeld
Not for Beginners
Obsolete Beginners' Books
- The Game of Go - The National Game of Japan by Arthur Smith
- Go Game for Beginners
- Go A Guide to the Game
- Go and Go-Moku - Edward Lasker
- Goh or Wei Chi - Horace Cheshire
- How to Play Go
- An Introduction of Korean Badook
- Steppingstones to Go
- The Theory and Practice of Go by O. Korschelt.
Theory
- Basic Techniques of Go - Nagahara Yoshiaki and Haruyama Isamu
- Beauty and the Beast - Shen Guosun
- Cho Hun-Hyeon's Lectures on Go Techniques - Cho Hun-hyeon
- Fundamental Principles Of Go - Yilun Yang
- How not to Play Go - Yuan Zhou
- Intermediate Level Power Builder Volume 1 - Wang Runan
- Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go - Kageyama Toshiro
- Proverbs - The Nihon Ki-in
Problems
- 100 Challenging Go Problems for 100 Days of Study - The Nihon Ki-in
- Strategic Fundamentals in Go - Guo Tisheng & Lu Wen?
- Test Your Go Strength - Miyamoto Naoki
- Train Like a Pro - Sung-Rae Kim
- Winning Go Successful Moves from the Opening to the Endgame - Peter Shotwell & Richard Bozulich
- The Elephant in the Paddy. TsumeGo in Pictures by Izumi Hase?
Books that cover specific topics
Fuseki & Joseki
Theory
- A Way of Play for the 21st Century - Go Seigen
- All About Thickness - Ishida Yoshio
- Improve Your Intuition Volume 1 - Takagawa Kaku
- In the Beginning - Ishigure Ikuro
- Joseki Volume 1 Fundamentals - Robert Jasiek
- Joseki Volume 2 Strategy - Robert Jasiek
- Joseki Volume 3 Dictionary - Robert Jasiek
- Opening Theory Made Easy - Otake Hideo
- The Direction of Play - Kajiwara Takeo
Problems
- 501 Opening Problems - Richard Bozulich
- Get Strong at Joseki vol. 1-3 - Richard Bozulich
- Get Strong at the Opening - Richard Bozulich
- GGPD 300 Joseki Problems 1d-3d
Joseki Choice
- The Direction of Play - Kajiwara Takeo
- The Great Joseki Debates - Honda Kunihisa
- Whole Board Thinking in Joseki vol. 1-2 Yang Yilun & Phil Straus
Manuals, Dictionaries, etc.
- The 3-3 Point Modern Opening Strategy - Cho Chikun
- 38 Basic Joseki - Kosugi Kiyoshi & James Davies
- The Chinese Opening - Kato Masao
- Dictionary of Basic Joseki vol. 1-3 - Ishida Yoshio
- Enclosure Josekis - Takemiya Masaki - out of print
- Essential Joseki - Rui Naiwei
- Even Game Joseki - The Nihon Ki-in
- Fuseki - The Nihon Ki-in
- Jungsuk in Our Time - Hankuk Kiwon
- Lee Changho's Novel Plays and Shapes - Yi Ch'ang-ho
- Modern Joseki and Fuseki vol. 1 - Sakata Eio
- Modern Joseki and Fuseki vol. 2 - Sakata Eio
- The Power of the Star Point - Takagawa Shukaku - out of print
- Star Point Joseki - The Nihon Ki-in
- Tricks in Joseki - Yang Yilun
Life & Death and Tesuji
Theory
- Golden Opportunities - Rin Kaiho
- Life and Death - James Davies
- Tesuji - James Davies
- Tesuji and Anti-Suji of Go - Sakata Eio - out of print
- Key Concepts in Life and Death - Richard Hunter
- [Tsumego: l'art du combat au jeu de go] - Motoki Noguchi
Problems and Theory
Problems
- 1001 Life-and-Death Problems - Richard Bozulich
- 200 Tesuji Problems - Shirae Haruhiko
- The Art of Capturing Stones - Wu Dingyuan? & Yu Xing?
- The Art of Connecting Stones - Wu Piao? & Yu Xing?
- Five Hundred and One Tesuji Problems - Richard Bozulich
- Get Strong at Life and Death - Richard Bozulich
- Get Strong at Tesuji - Richard Bozulich
- Graded Go Problems for Beginners volumes 3 & 4 - Kano Yoshinori
- GGPD 300 Life and Death Problems 5k-3d
- GGPD 300 Tesuji Problems 5k-3d
- Life and Death - Intermediate Level Problems - Maeda Nobuaki
- Magic on the First Line - Nakayama Noriyuki
- Rescue and Capture - Yang Yilun
- Yang Yilun's Ingenious Life and Death Puzzles Vol.1-2 - Yang Yilun
Dictionary
Middlegame
Theory
- The ABC's of Attack and Defense - Michael Redmond
- After Joseki - Kim Sung-Rae
- All About Thickness - Ishida Yoshio
- Attack and Defense - Ishida Akira & James Davies
- Capturing Races 1 - Robert Jasiek
- Counting Liberties and Winning Capturing Races - Richard Hunter
- Cross-Cut Workshop - Richard Hunter
- Fighting Fundamentals - Robert Jasiek
- Fighting Ko - Jin Jiang
- GO Invasion et reduction - LeeChangho
- Improve Your Intuition Volume 2: Attack & Defence - Takagawa Kaku
- Improve Your Intuition Volume 3: How to Reduce a Moyo - Takagawa Kaku
- Kato's Attack and Kill - Kato Masao - out of print
- Keshi and Uchikomi: Reduction and Invasion in Go - Iwamoto Kaoru
- The Middle Game of Go vol. 1 - Sakata Eio
- Positional Judgement 1 / Territory - Robert Jasiek
- Positional Judgment / High Speed Game Analysis - Cho Chikun
- Reducing Territorial Frameworks - Fujisawa Shuko
- Strategic Concepts of Go - Nagahara Yoshiaki - out of print
- The Theory and Practice of Analysis - Valery Shikshin
- The Theory and Practice of Semeai - Valery Shikshin
- The Thirty-six Stratagems Applied to Go - Ma Xiaochun
- Utilizing Outward Influence - Jiang Jin? & Zheng Zhao?
Problems
- Get Strong at Attacking - Richard Bozulich
- Get Strong at Invading - Richard Bozulich
- The Basics of Go Strategy - Richard Bozulich
- All About Ko - Rob van Zeijst & Richard Bozulich
- The Only Move: Fighting Middlegame Collection - Fujisawa Hideyuki
Endgame
Theory
- The Endgame - Ogawa Tomoko & James Davies
- Mathematical Go (also published as Mathematical Go Endgames) - Elwyn Berlekamp and David Wolfe
- Monkey Jump Workshop - Richard Hunter
Problems
Handicap Go
Theory
- Sanzi Pu (English title: Three-Stone Games) - Guo Bailing
- Sizi Pu (English title: Four-Stone Games) - Guo Bailing
- The Breakthrough to Shodan - Miyamoto Naoki
- Handicap Go - Nagahara Yoshiaki & Richard Bozulich
- How to Play Handicap Go - Yuan Zhou
- Kage's Secret Chronicles of Handicap Go - Kageyama Toshiro
- Masterpieces of Handicap Go, Volume 1
- Masterpieces of Handicap Go, Volume 2
- Pro-Pro Handicap Go - The Nihon Ki-in
Problems
Game Commentaries
- 9-Dan Showdown - John Fairbairn
- Appreciating Famous Games - Ohira Shuzo
- Brilliance/Power - John Fairbairn
- Cho Hunhyun Life and Master Games - Cho Hun-hyeon
- Come Up to Shodan - Rin Kaiho
- Commented Games by Lee Sedol Vol. 1: One Step Closer to the Summit - Lee Sedol, Lee Sena
- Final Summit - John Fairbairn
- Invincible: The Games of Shusaku - John Power
- Kamakura - John Fairbairn
- Killer of Go - Sakata Eio
- Learning from Pro Games - Yuan Zhou
- Master Play Series - Yuan Zhou
- Masterpieces of Handicap Go Vols. 1 & 2 - Robert McGuigan
- Modern Master Games Vol. 1: The Dawn of Tournament Go - Richard Bozulich, Rob van Zeijst
- Modern Masters: Redmond on Pro Games - Michael Redmond
- Nie Weiping on Go - Nie Weiping
- Old Fuseki vs. New Fuseki - John Fairbairn
- The 1971 Honinbo Tournament - Iwamoto Kaoru
- The Best Game Records of 2009 - Cheong Tong-sik
- The Games of Honinbo Shuei Vols. 1-4 - John Fairbairn
- The Go Consultants - John Fairbairn, T. Mark Hall
- The Meijin's Retirement Game - John Fairbairn
- The World of Chinese Go - Guo Juan
- Tournament Go 1992 - John Power
- Understanding How to Play Go - Yuan Zhou
Culture and History
- 400 Years of Go in Japan - Andrew Grant & John Fairbairn
- The Treasure Chest Enigma - Nakayama Noriyuki (German translation: Die Schatztruhe)
- The Go Player's Almanac - Richard Bozulich
- The Go Companion - John Fairbairn
- Japanese Prints and the World of Go - William Pinckard? and Kitagawa Akiko?
Other
E-book Readers
-
SmartGo Books -- Go bookstore & reader for iOS.
To categorize
Online Books
- 30k-20k Study Book by Oliver Richman
-
Go on Go: The Analyzed Games of Go Seigen
-
How To Play Against Stronger Players by Sakai Michiharu
- Vol. 1: Local Positions
- Vol. 2: Illustrative Teaching Games
-
How To Play Go by Yee Fan Tan
-
The Interactive Way To Go by Hiroki Mori
- Kogo's Joseki Dictionary
-
The Way To Go by Karl Baker
-
Shape Up! by Charles Matthews (requires GoBase account for access). Also available, along with other books by Charles, on the GoGoD CD.
Series of Books
Theory
Problems
- The Art of Go Series
- Get Strong At Go Series
- Graded Go Problems for Beginners
- Graded Go Problems for Dan Players
- Mastering the Basics
- The Heart of Go Discovery Series
- Black to Play. Train the Basics of Go.
Dictionaries
- Small Encyclopedia Series?
- Shin Hayawakari Shojiten
Classic Texts
- YiZhi
- Xuanxuan Qijing
- Guanzi Pu - Guo Bailing
- Sanzi Pu (English title: Three-Stone Games) - Guo Bailing
- Sizi Pu (English title: Four-Stone Games) - Guo Bailing
- Igo Hatsuyoron
- Gokei Genmyou
- Gokyo Shumyo
- Gokyo Seimyo
- Katsugo Shinpyo
- Shikatsu Myoki
- Wangyou Qingle Ji
- Genran (Xuanlan)
- Xian Ji Wu Ku
- Classical Go Problem books
To Be Categorized
- How To Destroy And Preserve - Yang Yilun
- The Mathematics of Go
- Making Good Shape - Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich
- The Go'ing Insurrection - An anonymously published booklet
Links to other pages about books
- Chinese Go Books
- Dictionaries Page
- Errata In Books
- Hikaru no Go
- Japanese Book Reviews
- A Japanese Book Shop
- Japanese Go Books
- Korean Go Books
- Literature, Non-Fiction and other References to Go
- Minismurf/ On Korean Go Books
- Out of Print Go Books
- Publishers
- Reading Non-English Books
- Recommended Go Books
- Problem Book Grades