Gekkan Go Waarudo

Gekkan Go Waarudo (月刊碁ワールド, meaning "Monthly Go World") is a Japanese language go magazine published by the Nihon Ki-in. In 1999, it replaced the two magazines Kido and Igo Club which are no longer published.

The ~150 page issues consist of go world news, instructional articles, commented games, player introductions and the like, peppered with go related advertisements and classifieds. Each issue also contains some problems or "strength testers" of the fuseki, tesuji and L&D types, and there's usually also a healthy portion of go related manga to satisfy the reader's appetite for graphical stories.

Each issue is accompanied by a small booklet called "Tsugi no itte" (meaning "the next move"), whose ~100 small pages are typically filled with problems of that month's special theme. Each problem comes with a star rank ranging from one star (easy) to three stars (very difficult), and a solution that is always only a page turn away.

The Nihon Ki-in has an online archive containing small digests of the issues.

Subscribing to the magazine may take a bit of effort, especially if you are a foreigner with less than perfect Japanese skills. These addresses may prove helpful:

• http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/member/futsu1.html - Online forms in Japanese
• kaigai@nihonkiin.or.jp - This address should reach an English speaking person at the Ki-in.

There is now an iPad/iPhone app "Nihonkiin Go Books" that allows you to purchase the electronic version monthly via the app store. Currently (2011/8) each issue costs ¥700, substantially less than the normal cover price of ¥860.

Not to be confused with Go World, an English language go magazine formerly (alas) published by Kiseido.