The Treasure Chest Enigma
The Treasure Chest Enigma is a collection of essays and ladder problems by Nakayama Noriyuki published by the author in 1984 and, at one time, distributed by Ishi Press. A beautiful hardcover volume of 191 pages with dust jacket and frontispiece photographs.
A second edition[1], with near identical content to the first edition, was published in 2005 by Slate and Shell.
The German edition[2] was published in 2008 under the title "Die Schatztruhe" by Brett und Stein Verlag.
Reviews
Review by David Carlton.
Review by Bob McGuigan on the AGA website.
RafaelCaetano: There are some brief comments about this book in other SL pages, but no comments here... Well, I've just got a copy in a used bookstore. It's a delightful read!
You won't get stronger reading it, but who cares? If you're an addicted go player, this book is a must. Unfortunately the essays section is too short.
I was surprised with the informal, irreverent writing style of Nakayama. Are there other Japanese go writers (pro or not) who write like that?
Can someone tell us about "Tales of a man crazy about go" by the same author?
BobMcGuigan: The essays in Treasure Chest were translated from a collection titled Jitsuroku Igo Kodan. Gokyo Monogatari (Tales of a man crazy about go) is a similar collection of essays that were originally published in Igo Club magazine. A few of them were translated and published in Go World issue number 50. Mr.Nakayama has just published a two volume work Showa Igo Fu-un Roku (Record of the winds of change in Showa era Go), a sort of personal history of go during the reign of Emperor Hirohito including many anecdotes.
Table of Contents
Translators' Preface
Part One: Essays
- The Treasure Chest Enigma
- Strange Laughter at Midnight
- Memories of Kitani
- The Clam Shells are Heavy
- The New Year's Eve Disciple
- The Art of Resigning
- The Second Drama
Part Two: Game Commentaries
- The Ladder Mimic Game
- Fujisawa Shuko v. Sakata
- Kajiwara v. Cho Chikun
Part Three: Problems
- Problems 1 - 20
- Answers
Glossary of Japanese Go Terms
Biographical Details of Go Players
Book in Japanese by Nakayama Noriyuki
Sample Material
[1] Bob McGuigan: The second edition differs slightly from the first. The essays and game commentaries are unchanged but some of the ladder problems have been replaced with new ones.
[2] The German edition is based on the second edition of the English version.