Gokyo Shumyo
Gokyo Shumyo (Brilliancies from Go Classics[1]) is a famous collection of 520 tsumego, written by Hayashi Genbi in 1812.
Modern reprints of the collection usually divide the problems into seven sections[2]:
- Life (生之部) - 103 problems
- Death (死之部) - 71 problems
- Ko (劫之部) - 90 problems
- Attack (攻之部) - 96 problems | Note: The problems in this section actually refer to capturing races.
- Chasing & Capturing (追落之部) - 40 problems
- Connect Underneath (盤之部) - 74 problems
- Wedge, Play Inside, Connect, Cut, Ladder (夾,点,続,断,征之部) - 46 problems | Note: Though 夾 usually means a clamp, these are problems on wedge plays.
In Killer of Go, Sakata Eio explains the importance the Gokyo Shumyo and studying tsumego:
It is necessary to cultivate one's skill at solving questions at a glance, in other words, life and death problems (tsumego). It is recommended that amateurs assimilate the "Gokyo Shumyo" (...). It was published more than 150 years ago, but it contains basic life and death shapes, and is invaluable in game situations. Unless one first fixes the complete Shumyo collection in mind, one will not attain the qualifications to make one feared as a "killer". However, even a fairly strong amateur will have trouble solving all of the problems in the Shumyo correctly on the spot. If not, that's quite all right. After some days pass, one must take up the challenge again, and then yet again later, until in the end one masters the whole anthology.
Jang Bi, a former Korean insei and 9d on KGS, said that Gokyo Shumyo is perfect for low to mid-dan ranked players.
Availability
- English edition by Antti Törmänen
available from Hebsacker Verlag and
as a pdf ebook from Gumroad
- Gokyo Shumyo Tsumego on Sensei's.
- PDF of the problems from
tasuki.org.
- A Chinese edition was published in 2004 (ISBN 7-80548-916-5). The book is one of three classic tsumego reprints in the World Weiqi Masterpieces of Life and Death series. It is available to the Western audience via Yellow Mountain Imports at
http://www.ymimports.com/p-236-brilliancies-from-go-classics-gokyo-shumyo.aspx
- The Hashimoto Utaro edition (Revised ed. Sankaido, 2004) is available from
amazon.co.jp
- The Japanese National Diet Library Digital Collection contains:
- 1882 edition:
Volumes 1-4 Vol.4 includes solutions, coordinates only
- 1912 one-volume edition with copyright expired solutions by Ishii Senji (Nakagawa Kamesaburo II). Solutions are in coordinates only.
- 1882 edition:
-
Problems and some solutions (about 100) at eidogo. Numbered 1-520 so its not easy to find the one you want. Also there's no way to know if the problem you are trying has a solution or not.
[1] tderz: 棋经众妙 = Qíjīng zhòngmiào
(棋 經眾妙) = chess(Go) // classics /(sacred book) // multitude clever/wonderful => sacred WeiQi-book of the multitude of wonderful (moves) = above "Brilliancies from Go Classics"
[2] unkx80: 之部 omitted from English translations. Basically 部 means section/part/chapter.