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Blake: Original Content (Discussion) (2013-07-04 16:37) [#9704]

Dronak: I'm a total newbie, just starting out with information from the web. I'm thinking about getting a book, but just one. As a new interest, I'm not ready to spend a lot of money, say for one of those 5-7 book series. But I might go for one nice, general book that covers a lot of major topics; something low enough level that I can understand most of it, but maybe also gives me some room to grow into it. Is there any consensus here on what book would be good for that purpose? I see reviews are available, but being totally new it's hard to decide what might be good for me so I thought maybe some of you here would have suggestions. If so, especially if a lot of people agree on one book, please let me know. Thanks a lot.

JohnAspinall: I got a lot out of Bozulich's Second Book of Go when I was just past learning the rules.

Cheyenne:

Well .. here are my thoughts on this. There are three types of books (at least on how I view things).

  1. General information books
  2. Theory type books
  3. Tactical type books

The General information books would consists of those books that cover the rules, terminology, some basic ideas. I would probably say that the books that you find in some of the off the shelf commercial Go sets would probably fit here. I would also probably say that some of the books from Janice Kim would be here. These types of books are good for a good overview. They will get you started, give you enough basics to play the game. Some will help you start understanding the game from a study standpoint (I'm thinking here of the books that Janice Kim co-authored.)

However. Once you've digested some of the general information books, you will probably need to really start to study the game. Here the Theory type books and the tactical type books are going to come into play.

The theory type books will cover more of a high level view of the game (or a specific aspect of the game). Examples within these books are usually for illustration (for example they may show one or two joseki for a response, but will might indicate that other joseki will also work). I would include in these types of books Opening Theory Made Easy, In the Beginning, Attack and Defense, and Making Good Shape as prime examples. (For me personally, these are the types of books that really help me learn.)

Tactical books are those that deal mostly with local type of play. Usually one of the big characteristics of these types of books is that they will have a large number of problems, or very specific examples. Here are the books that cover Joseki, Tesuji, Life and Death problems. Many of these types of books just require sitting down, and memorizing the sequence and then understanding the sequence.

For my list of books (probably in order)

  • a couple general information books (maybe the Janice Kim series)
  • In the Beginning
  • Opening Theory Made Easy - this one really helped me
  • Do a quick read of a Life and Death book (this should be a continuing reading project)
  • Do a quick read of a basic Joseki book (again this should be a continuing reading project) don't dwell too long here at the start, just get the flavor of some of the joseki's
  • Go Proverbs
  • Making Good Shape
  • Attack and Defense
  • A book on some general Fusekis
  • more detailed study of Joseki

That should probably keep one busy for a while. If I were to start afresh that is probably the order that I would read things (knowing how I learn things).

dpx: If i could have just one beginning book it would either have to be Bozulich's The Second Book of Go or Iwamoto's Go for Beginners. I did not read Iwamoto's book when i was first starting out, but i wish i had, as it is clear and covers quite a lot in such a slim volume.

Dronak: Thanks for some fast replies, I hope others will add some more, either with other books or just to agree with ones already suggested. The more people recommend a book, the more likely I'll be to get it or at least consider getting it over others. I had the impression that the The Second Book of Go would be a bit too advanced for me, but maybe not. I'll look into it and Go for Beginners. The LearnToPlayGoSeries by Janice Kim was one of the first things I looked at because she's writing a little column to accompany HikaruNoGo in the US Shonen Jump. Apparently the first book has a punch-out board and pieces which is cute since I have no physical equipment, just computer stuff. But it's a series and all five books together cost about $70. I know I don't have to get them all at once, but I have read that the first is so basic that you can skip it or at least get the first two books together. I'm not sure I want to go in on a series right now though, because if I start one, I'll want to finish it and I'm not really ready to spend that much money on a brand new interest. I might buy one book though when I get a bit more money saved up again (I just made some fun purchases). So I'll look into the suggestions already made, but please add more if you have them. Thanks again. :)

RoyZR This page would not be complete without mention of LessonsInTheFundamentalsOfGo. It might be a little much for a person just learning the rules, but as someone currently in the 25-20 kyu range, I think it's superb. Most seem to find it remains valuable as they advance.

Jesse: Also there is the Graded Go Problems for Beginners series. I worked on Volume 2 a while ago, and I remember liking the format. The problems cover many aspects of the game: life and death, connection, fuseki, ko, endgame.

ilanpi: My recommended first books are the two books that I feel best communicate what go is about. These are The Go Player's Almanac and Hikaru no Go. By the way, I also consider these two as the best books about go. You don't even need to know anything about the game to read them either, so you can give them to friends, spouses, parents, or children who may be puzzled or exasperated about your time consumption, in order to give them an idea about the game. I found the history of modern go the most interesting part of the Go Player's Almanac.

Corrin: Following ilanpi's logic, but from a different direction... Something that really annoys me is publishers claiming a book is suitable for anybody. For instance, the books "501 opening problems" and "get strong at the opening" say in the blurb that they would be fine for a beginner who has just learned the rules. I cannot think of a worse way to introduce a beginner to go than by giving them a book full of hard problems with almost no explaination. Just as Hikaru might give a beginner an interest in the game without really conveying any technique, a book which is too hard will destroy interest without conveying any technique either.

ilanpi I agree about those books, I didn't get anything out of those two books until I was 4K, at which point they did help me quite a bit. On the other hand, people who are interested in go are often likely to be the type of people who like reading the dictionary for fun (me for example) and enjoy no commentary problems. I was stuck simply because of my lack of opening understanding, but liked other problem books. I think that the important point, when recommending books about playing the game, is to consider the person you are recommending them to. What worked for you may not work for others. For example, I prefer straightforward analysis and really dislike vague philosophical ramblings, so my favorite books will probably be exactly wrong for someone who enjoys the aesthetic philosophical side of the game.

Dronak: As my interests tend to come and go, I've been away from this for a while, but I'm looking at it again as some strategy board games are catching my attention again. I'm planning on buying some books soon, and will probably put some on these strategy board games in the batch. The consumer reviews at Amazon seem to generally agree with comments here, so I think I'm going to look at The Second Book of Go and Go for Beginners mentioned here, plus GoACompleteIntroductionToTheGame. The LearnToPlayGoSeries is probably good, too, but I still don't really want to go in on a series. I'm sure there are some differences in these books, but as long as they're not too advanced, any of them will probably be good for me as a total beginner.

ilanpi has a point about book styles. I don't know if I have a strong preference for any particular style, but I do think that I'd find detailed game analysis helpful. I have a chess book that does that. Being new to go, a book that does something similar, explaining why various moves in a game are good or bad, will help me understand what's going on and why people do what they do.

 
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