Gokyo Shumyo

Gokyo Shumyo
("碁経衆妙 Gokyō Shumyō")
By: Hayashi Genbi
1812

Chinese: 棋经众妙 (Qíjīng Zhòngmiào)
Japanese: 碁経衆妙 (Gokyō Shumyō)
Korean: 기경중묘 (Ki Kyeung Joong Myo)

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


[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.


Gokyo Shumyo last edited by hnishy on December 27, 2022 - 10:34
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