Go Books
Keywords: Books & Publications
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Introduction
Although many Go books exist in English, the major are still written and published in Chinese, Japanese or Korean languages. This makes the majority of Go books somewhat inaccessible to the majority of English-speaking (i.e. Western) Go players. Nonetheless, there are a number of websites and articles aimed at informing Western readers of the books available to them. Among these are:
| Author(s) | Page/Section Title | Notes | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| AGA | ![[ext]](images/extlink.gif) AGA Annotated Bibliography of Go Books in English
| Extensive list of English Go books. Cross-linked to reviews in the American Go E-Journal. | 2018 |
| BenGoZen | Book Reviews
| List of book reviews from a kyu player's perspective. | 2014 |
| David Carlton | Annotated Go Bibliographies
| Good English language bibliography and reviews on Go books. | 2007 |
| Didier Kropp | Bibliographie du Go en français
| A link collection of books in French and other languages. | 2008 |
| EGCC. Henk Mourik?, Theo van Ees? | dead link removed] | Catalogue based on the bibliography started by Theo van Ees?, one of the authors of Bibliogo, in 1975. It contains titles of his large collection of go books in European languages. Titles are filed under author name and subject terms. Online catalogue is a result of cooperation between Henk Mourik (librarian of the Dutch Go Association) and the European Go Cultural Centre. | 2014 |
| Go Game Guru | Recommended Go Books (Archived)
| Advice about which books to read at different levels, aimed at helping players improve quickly. | 2017 |
| Robert Jasiek | Go (Weiqi, Baduk) ISBN Rating List
| "[G]ives ISBN and subjective ratings of Go books. It also denotes their general topics and major teaching methods and suggests when to read them." | 2016 |
| Sensei's Library | Recommended Go Books | Contains links to recommended first, intermediate and advanced Go books. | 2013 |
| Various | Index to L19 Book Reviews
| Collection of 55+ book reviews by Life in 19x19 forum members from their Go Books and Go Books Reviews subforums. | 2018 |
| John Fairbairn | John Fairbairn | Links to many books in English | N/A |
The Dewey Decimal Classification DDC for Go books is 794.4.
The Universal Decimal Clasification UDC for Go books is 794.2 (this includes board games that are not dependent on chance other than Chess).
Each person develops a unique perspective on Go, including their experiences of and preferences about the game. Therefore, What is your favorite Go Book? and What is your least favorite Go Book?
Apart from books on playing Go there are also non-fiction, literature and other reference books. This includes Ritchie Press's, who is a prolific publisher of on how to become very strong.
See also: Coming Soon and Go Book Rumors.
| Table of contents |
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Books That Cover the Entire Game
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For Beginners
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Theory
- EZ-GO: Oriental Strategy in a Nutshell, by Bruce Wilcox
- First Fundamentals, by Robert Jasiek
- Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game (formerly The Magic of Go), by Cho Chikun
- Go Basics: Concepts And Strategies for New Players, by Peter Shotwell
- Go for Beginners, by Iwamoto Kaoru
- Go: Grundlagen und elementare Techniken, by Thomas Hillebrand
- Go: More Than a Game, by Peter Shotwell
- Go: The World's Most Fascinating Game, by the Nihon Ki-in
- In the Beginning, by Ishigure Ikuro
- Jeu de Go: le language des pierres by Noguchi Motoki
- Learn to Play Go (Series), by Jeong Soo-hyun & Janice Kim
- Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go, by Kageyama Toshiro
- Level Up! (Series), by Lee Jae-Hwan?
- So You Want to Play Go? (Level 1), by Jonathan Hop
- Teach Yourself Go, by Charles Matthews
- The Book of Go, by William Cobb
- The Game of Go, by Matthew Macfadyen
- The Second Book of Go, by Richard Bozulich
- The Way of Go, by Troy Anderson
- Zug um Zug, by Arcana
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Problems
- Graded Go Problems for Beginners (Volumes 1 & 2), by Kano Yoshinori
- Black to Play: Train the Basics of Go, by Gunnar Dickfeld
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Not for Beginners
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Obsolete Beginners' Books
- An Introduction of Korean Badook, by Yong Kwan Ju
- Go: A Guide to the Game, by David Brine Pritchard
- Go and Go-Moku, by Edward Lasker
- Go Game for Beginners, by Kambayashi Haruko
- Goh or Wei Chi, by Horace Cheshire
- How to Play Go, by Takagawa Kaku
- Steppingstones to Go, by Kishikawa Shigemi
- The Game of Go: The National Game of Japan, by Arthur Smith
- The Theory and Practice of Go, by O. Korschelt
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Theory
- An Encyclopedia of Go Principles, by Richard Bozulich
- Basic Techniques of Go, by Nagahara Yoshiaki & Haruyama Isamu
- Beauty and the Beast, by Shen Guosun
- Cho Hun-Hyeon's Lectures on Go Techniques, by Cho Hun-hyeon
- Fundamental Principles Of Go, by Yilun Yang
- How not to Play Go, by Yuan Zhou
- Intermediate Level Power Builder (Volume 1), by Wang Runan
- More Go by Example, by Neil Moffatt?
- Proverbs, by The Nihon Ki-in
- So You Want to Play Go? (Level 3), by Jonathan Hop
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Problems
- 100 Challenging Go Problems for 100 Days of Study, by The Nihon Ki-in
- Strategic Fundamentals in Go, by Guo Tisheng & Lu Wen?
- Test Your Go Strength, by Miyamoto Naoki
- The Elephant in the Paddy: TsumeGo in Pictures, by Izumi Hase?
- Train Like a Pro (Series), by Sung-Rae Kim
- Winning Go: Successful Moves from the Opening to the Endgame, by Peter Shotwell & Richard Bozulich
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Books That Cover Specific Topics
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9x9 Go
- 81 Little Lions - An introduction to the 9x9 board for advanced beginners by Immanuel Devillers, M.D.
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Classic Texts
- Classic of Go, by an author named Zhang Ni
- Dunhuang Classic of Go?, author unknown
- Genran, by Akaboshi Intetsu
- Gokyo Shumyo, by Hayashi Genbi
- Gokyo Seimyo, by Hayashi Genbi
- Guanzi Pu, by Guo Bailing, trans. Cho Hye-yeon
- Igo Hatsuyoron, by Dosetsu Inseki
- Katsugo Shinpyo, by Kishimoto Saichiro
- Sanzi Pu, by Guo Bailing, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Shikatsu Myoki, by Honinbo Shusai
- Sizi Pu, by Guo Bailing, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Taohua Quan Yipu, by Fan Xiping, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Wangyou Qingle Ji, by !Unknown
- Xianji Wuku, by Lu Xuanyu?, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Xuanxuan Qijing, by Yan Defu & Yan Tianzhang, trans. Cho Hye-yeon & John Fairbairn
- Yi Cheng, by Zhang Yabo & Shi Xiangxia, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Yi Miao, by Wu Jiong? & Wu Jun?, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Yi Zhi, by Ban Gan?
- Yili Zhigui Xubian, by Shi Xiangxia, trans. Ruoshi Sun
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Culture and History
- 400 Years of Go in Japan, by Andrew Grant & John Fairbairn
- Japanese Prints and the World of Go, by William Pinckard? & Kitagawa Akiko?
- The Game of Go: Speculations on its Origins and Symbolism in Ancient China, by Peter Shotwell
- The Go Companion, by John Fairbairn
- The Go Player's Almanac, by Richard Bozulich
- The Go'ing Insurrection, by Unknown.
- The Life of Honinbo Shuei, by John Fairbairn
- The Mathematics of Go, by Shimada Takuji
- The Treasure Chest Enigma, by Nakayama Noriyuki → German translation: Die Schatztruhe.
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Endgame
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Theory
- Endgame - Volume 1: Fundamentals, by Robert Jasiek, theory and problems
- Endgame - Volume 2: Values, by Robert Jasiek
- Endgame - Volume 3: Accurate Local Evaluation, by Robert Jasiek
- Endgame - Volume 4: Global Move Order, by Robert Jasiek
- Endgame - Volume 5: Mathematics, by Robert Jasiek
- The Endgame, by Ogawa Tomoko & James Davies
- Mathematical Go (also published as Mathematical Go Endgames), by Elwyn Berlekamp & David Wolfe
- Monkey Jump Workshop, by Richard Hunter
- Rational Endgame, by Antti Törmänen
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Problems
- 200 Endgame Problems: Winning Tactics, by Shirae Haruhiko
- Basic Endgame Problems 1 Gote, by Robert Jasiek
- Basic Endgame Problems 2 Sente, by Robert Jasiek
- Endgame Problems 1, by Robert Jasiek
- Get Strong at the Endgame, by Richard Bozulich
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Game Commentaries
- 9-Dan Showdown, by John Fairbairn
- Appreciating Famous Games, by Ohira Shuzo
- Brilliance/Power, by John Fairbairn
- Cho Hunhyun: Life and Master Games, by Cho Hun-hyeon
- Come Up to Shodan, by Rin Kaiho
- Commented Games by Lee Sedol - Volume 1: One Step Closer to the Summit, by Lee Sedol & Lee Sena
- Cosmic Go by Takemiya Masaki
- Final Summit, by John Fairbairn
- Four-Stone Games (Volumes 1 & 2), by Guo Bailing, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Games of Go, by Neil Moffat
- Games of Wonder, by Wu Jiong? & Wu Jun?, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Invincible: The Games of Shusaku, by John Power
- Kamakura, by John Fairbairn
- Killer of Go, by Sakata Eio
- Learning from Pro Games?, by Yuan Zhou
- Master Play Series, by Yuan Zhou
- Masterpieces of Handicap Go (Volumes 1 & 2), by Robert McGuigan
- Modern Master Games - Volume 1: The Dawn of Tournament Go, by Richard Bozulich & Rob van Zeijst
- Modern Masters: Redmond on Pro Games, by Michael Redmond
- Nie Weiping on Go, by Nie Weiping
- Old Fuseki vs. New Fuseki, by John Fairbairn
- Path to Go, by Zhang Yabo, Shi Xiangxia, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- The 1971 Honinbo Tournament, by Iwamoto Kaoru
- The Best Game Records of 2009, by Cheong Tong-sik
- The Games of Honinbo Shuei (Volumes 1-4), by John Fairbairn
- The Go Consultants, by John Fairbairn & T. Mark Hall
- The Meijin's Retirement Game, by John Fairbairn
- The World of Chinese Go, by Guo Juan
- Three-Stone Games, by Guo Bailing, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Tournament Go 1992, by John Power
- Understanding How to Play Go, by Yuan Zhou
- Relentless, by GoGameGuru.
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Handicap Go
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Theory
- Four-Stone Games (Volumes 1 & 2), by Guo Bailing, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Handicap Go, by Nagahara Yoshiaki & Richard Bozulich
- How to Play Handicap Go, by Yuan Zhou
- Kage's Secret Chronicles of Handicap Go, by Kageyama Toshiro
- Masterpieces of Handicap Go (Volumes 1 & 2), by Robert McGuigan
- Pro-Pro Handicap Go, by The Nihon Ki-in
- The Breakthrough to Shodan, by Miyamoto Naoki
- Three-Stone Games, by Guo Bailing, trans. Ruoshi Sun
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Problems
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Life & Death and Tesuji
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Theory
- Golden Opportunities, by Rin Kaiho
- Key Concepts in Life and Death, by Richard Hunter
- Life and Death, by James Davies
- Tesuji, by James Davies
- Tesuji and Anti-Suji of Go, by Sakata Eio → Currently out of print.
- Tsumego: L'art du combat au jeu de go, by Motoki Noguchi
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Problems and Theory
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Problems
- 1001 Life-and-Death Problems, by Richard Bozulich
- 200 Tesuji Problems, by Shirae Haruhiko
- 250 Go Problems, by Gheorghe Paun
- 501 Tesuji Problems, by Richard Bozulich
- Black to Play: Train the Basics of Go, by Gunnar Dickfeld
- Get Strong at Life and Death, by Richard Bozulich
- Get Strong at Tesuji, by Richard Bozulich
- Graded Go Problems for Beginners (Volumes 3 & 4), by Kano Yoshinori
- Graded Go Problems for Dan Players - Volume 1: 300 Life and Death Problems (5k-3d), by The Nihon Ki-in
- Graded Go Problems for Dan Players - Volume 2: 300 Tesuji Problems (5k-3d), by The Nihon Ki-in
- Life and Death: Intermediate Level Problems, by Maeda Nobuaki
- Magic on the First Line, by Nakayama Noriyuki
- Mastering Basic Corner Shapes by Youngsun Yoon
- Rescue and Capture, by Yang Yilun
- The Art of Capturing Stones, by Wu Dingyuan? & Yu Xing?
- The Art of Connecting Stones, by Wu Piao? & Yu Xing?
- The Celestial Arsenal, by Lu Xuanyu?, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Trouble Master?, by Inseong Hwang
- Yang Yilun's Ingenious Life and Death Puzzles (Volumes 1 & 2), by Yang Yilun
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Dictionary
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Middlegame
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Theory
- The ABC's of Attack and Defense, by Michael Redmond
- After Joseki, by Kim Sung-Rae
- All About Thickness, by Ishida Yoshio
- Attack and Defense, by Ishida Akira & James Davies
- Capturing Races - Volume 1: Two Basic Groups, by Robert Jasiek
- Capturing Races - Volume 2: Tactical Problems, by Robert Jasiek
- Chûban - La stratégie au jeu de go by Dai Junfu
- Counting Liberties and Winning Capturing Races, by Richard Hunter
- Cross-Cut Workshop, by Richard Hunter
- Fighting Fundamentals, by Robert Jasiek
- Fighting Ko, by Jin Jiang
- Go: Invasion et réduction, by Lee Changho
- How To Destroy And Preserve, by Yang Yilun
- Improve Your Intuition - Volume 2: Attack & Defence, by Takagawa Kaku
- Improve Your Intuition - Volume 3: How to Reduce a Moyo, by Takagawa Kaku
- Kato's Attack and Kill, by Kato Masao
- Keshi and Uchikomi: Reduction and Invasion in Go, by Iwamoto Kaoru
- Positional Judgement - Volume 1: Territory, by Robert Jasiek
- Positional Judgement - Volume 2: Dynamics, by Robert Jasiek
- Positional Judgment: High Speed Game Analysis, by Cho Chikun
- Reducing Territorial Frameworks, by Fujisawa Shuko
- ''Shaping up]
- Strategic Concepts of Go, by Nagahara Yoshiaki - out of print
- The Basic Principles of the Opening and the Middle Game, by Rob van Zeijst & Richard Bozulich
- The Mathematics of Go, by Shimada Takuji
- The Middle Game of Go, by Sakata Eio
- The Theory and Practice of Analysis, by Valery Shikshin
- The Theory and Practice of Semeai, by Valery Shikshin
- The Thirty-six Stratagems Applied to Go, by Ma Xiaochun
- Tsumego : l'art du combat au jeu de go by Noguchi Motoki
- Utilizing Outward Influence, by Jiang Jin? & Zheng Zhao?
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Problems
- All About Ko, by Rob van Zeijst & Richard Bozulich
- Get Strong at Attacking, by Richard Bozulich
- Get Strong at Invading, by Richard Bozulich
- The Basics of Go Strategy, by Richard Bozulich
- Shuko: The Only Move - Volume 2: Fighting Middlegame Collection, by Fujisawa Hideyuki
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Opening & Joseki
Books are sorted in their most fitting sections, but a few books contain also topics of other sections.
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Opening Theory
- A Way of Play for the 21st Century, by Go Seigen
- Improve Your Intuition (Volume 1), by Takagawa Kaku
- Opening Theory Made Easy, by Otake Hideo
- The Direction of Play, by Kajiwara Takeo
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Opening Dictionaries
- Fuseki Dictionary, by Rin Kaiho (two or more volumes)
- Fuseki: The Book, by The Nihon Ki-in
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Specific Openings
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Opening Problems
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Joseki Selection, Theory and Problems
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Joseki Theory
- Joseki - Volume 1: Fundamentals, by Robert Jasiek
- Joseki - Volume 2: Strategy, by Robert Jasiek
- Tricks in Joseki, by Yang Yilun
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Joseki Choice
- The Great Joseki Debates, by Honda Kunihisa
- Whole Board Thinking in Joseki (Volumes 1 & 2), by Yang Yilun & Phil Straus
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Joseki Dictionaries
- 21st Century Dictionary of Basic Joseki, by Takao Shinji
- Dictionary of Basic Joseki (Volumes 1-3), by Ishida Yoshio
- Joseki - Volume 3: Dictionary, by Robert Jasiek → Includes theory.
- Jungsuk in Our Time, by Hankuk Kiwon
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Joseki Selections
- 38 Basic Joseki, by Kosugi Kiyoshi & James Davies
- Essential Joseki, by Rui Naiwei
- Even Game Joseki, by The Nihon Ki-in
- 100 AI Joseki, by Kim Sung-rae
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Specific Josekis
- Enclosure Josekis, by Takemiya Masaki → Currently out of print.
- Star Point Joseki, by The Nihon Ki-in
- The Power of the Star Point, by Takagawa Shukaku → Currently out of print.
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Joseki Problems
- Get Strong at Joseki (Volumes 1-3), by Richard Bozulich
- Graded Go Problems for Dan Players - Volume 3: 300 Joseki Problems (1d-3d), by The Nihon Ki-in
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Selections of Openings and Josekis
- Go Book of Peach Blossom Spring, by Fan Xiping, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Go Fundamentals, by Shi Xiangxia, trans. Ruoshi Sun
- Lee Changho's Novel Plays and Shapes, by Yi Ch'ang-ho
- Modern Joseki and Fuseki (Volume 1), by Sakata Eio
- Modern Joseki and Fuseki (Volume 2), by Sakata Eio
- The Celestial Arsenal, by Lu Xuanyu, trans. Ruoshi Sun
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Reading
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Shape
- L'âme du go - les formes et leur esthétique by Fan Hui
- Making Good Shape, by Rob van Zeijst & Richard Bozulich
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Psychology
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Series
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Theory
- Elementary Go
- Improve Your Intuition
- Learn to Play Go
- Level Up!
- So You Want to Play Go?
- The Heart of Go
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Problems
- Black to Play: Train the Basics of Go
- Get Strong At Go
- Graded Go Problems for Beginners
- Graded Go Problems for Dan Players
- Igo Hatsuyoron
- Mastering the Basics
- The Art of Go
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Dictionaries
See also: Dictionaries Page
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Other
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Online Books
- A Go Guide From a Beginner by Charalampos (Haris) Kapolos
- Falling In Love With Baduk by the Hankuk Kiwon
- Go on Go: The Analyzed Games of Go Seigen by Go Seigen, trans. Jim Z. Yu
- Go in Competition by Radu Baciu, trans. Unknown
- Hiroki Mori interactive Go tutorial
- How to Play Against Stronger Players - Volume 1: Local Positions by Sakai Michiharu
- How to Play Against Stronger Players - Volume 2: Illustrative Teaching Games by Sakai Michiharu
- How to Play Go by Yee Fan Tan
- Relentless from GoGameGuru
- River Mountain Go by Oliver Richman
- Shape Up! by Charles Matthews
- The Way to Go by Karl Baker
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Links to other pages about books
- Kinokuniya
- Chinese Go Books
- Dictionaries Page
- Errata In Books
- Hikaru no Go
- FredK/Japanese Book Reviews
- Japanese Go Books
- Korean Go Books
- Literature, Non-Fiction and other References to Go
- Minismurf/ On Korean Go Books
- Out of Print Go Books
- Problem Book Grades
- Publishers
- Reading Non-English Books
- Recommended Go Books
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