K71: Five Hundred and One Opening Problems To order
compiled and edited by Richard Bozulich in collaboration with Rob van Zeijst
Each problem demonstrates a basic principle of opening play. The constant repetition of these principles will develop the reader's intuition to instantly spot the appropriate move in the opening of their games.

Independent review: bengozen.com

K72: One Thousand and One Life-and-Death Problems To order
compiled and edited by Richard Bozulich
The problems in this book focus on technique and reading, not on standard corner positions. The explanations are minimal and limited to either illustrating a fundamental principle or a tesuji. The reader is expected to make the effort to verify that the answer to each problem is indeed the best and most profitable move, and to prove to himself that any other move fails to achieve the stated objective. This effort is also part of the practice that these problems provide. It is not an easy task: it requires mental discipline. But doing it will not only improve your go, it will also improve your mental powers.

The problems are not hard; they range from very easy to moderately difficult. However, there are some rather tricky ones strewn throughout. A dan player should be able to solve most of them within a minute, sometimes on sight, but it may take a bit longer for kyu-level players. But even if you are a dan player, solving these problem will keep your go sharp and give you the competive edge that you need to win your games.

Independent review: bengozen.com

K73: Making Good Shape To order
by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich
Good shape is a subject that has received scant attention in Japanese go literature. Although references to shape are made in most books, there is no one book devoted exclusively to this subject. However, understanding and recognizing good shape is important for becoming a strong player and developing the intuition that will instantly guide you to finding the strongest moves in middle-game fighting. This book is intended to fill this gap.

The first chapter begins with an extensive theoretical introduction to shape, beginning with the efficient placement of stones. It then goes on to discuss thickness -- how to use it and how to counter it, and how, if used improperly, can result in the overconcentration of stones. It continues by contrasting the concept of thick stones with that of thin stones, and finally what are heavy stones and what are light stones, and how these relate to the important concept of sabaki, which is essentially a method of making good shape.

The second chapter gives examples of the standard shapes, both good and bad, such as ponnuki, empty triangles and pyramid shapes, the center of three stones, the head of two and three stones, etc.

The final chapter consists of 245 problems to give the readers the practice needed to hone their ability in finding the shape move in their games.

Independent review: bengozen.com

K74: 501 Tesuji Problems To order
compiled and edited by Richard Bozulich

Tesujis are skillful moves that accomplish some clear tactical objective, such as capturing stones or a group, rescuing one of your own groups linking up your stones, separating your opponent's stones, making good shape, etc.

There are two approaches to presenting tesujis problems. One approach is to collect problems according to the objective that tesujis accomplish. The other is to collect problems according to the kind of tesuji used. In this book the emphasis is on the latter.

There are about 45 different kinds of moves that make up tesujis. Each of them is described by a Japanese term. Some of these tesujis occur quite frequently in games, while others are seldom seen. In this book, I have attempted to present examples of every kind of tesuji. The more common ones occur in numerous problems, but even the less common ones will be represented a number of times. Every tesuji presented in this book can be found among the first 50 problems.

All of these different tesujis are scattered throughout the book. Just as in a game, one never knows what kind of tesuji will appear. It may be easy to find it, but often it is hard; it might be a quite common tesuji, but it could be one of those that rarely occur. Going through the 501 tesujis in this book will be like getting a tesuji experience in 501 games. However, in a game, many tesujis will go by unnoticed; in this book, each problem will be a learning experience.

Many of the problems are easy, but many are hard. It is recommended that you make an effort to solve each problem before looking at the answer, but don't spend too much time on them. The important thing is to expose yourself to the tesuji. As you work your way through this book, you will find that the tesujis that solve the problems will appear to you more and more quickly. Once you have reached this level, the same thing will start happening in your games.

Independent review: bengozen.com

K75: The Basics of Go Strategy To order
by Richard Bozulich

Aji, kikashi (forcing moves), and sabaki are the most important concepts of go. They imbue the game with strategic subtleties unmatched in any other game. Without an understanding of these concepts, no go player can hope to attain a high level of skill. Besides these concepts, it is also necessary to understand the shape and distribution of stones and how they influence other parts of the board, determining which stones are important and which stones can be sacrificed, and which stones must be strengthened before playing large-scale strategic moves.

The aim of this book is to bring together these ideas and to show the reader how they interact. Many of the examples and problems are taken from professional games so that the reader can see how the top pros deal with and utilize these concepts.

This book is divided into two parts. The first part is expository, and the second part consists of 101 problems. These problems will expose the the reader to various techniques and ways to think about certain kinds of positions. The reader is urged to approach them as positions that might occur in their own games, decide how they would play, and then look at the answers to compare their own thinking to that of a professional.

Independent review: bengozen.com

K76: All About Ko To order
by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich

Ko is the most intriguing aspect of go. When a ko fight arises, the calculations and considerations become quite complex. You have to be able to calculate how much the ko is worth, looking at it from Black's perspective, then from White's. Next, you have to look at the number of ko threats each side has, calculate the value of each, then determine whether or not these threats are big enough to induce you or your opponent to answer. Even if your ko threat isn't big enough to get your opponent to respond, is it big enough to win the game? Clearly, when fighting a ko, thinking globally is of paramount importance, since positions throughout the whole board are involved. Ko is the most difficult part of the game to master, but, without an understanding of its intricacies, you can never become a truly strong go player.

Although ko is a difficult subject, All About Ko simplifies it by breaking it down into 19 short and easily digestible chapters. Each of these chapters concentrates on one particular aspect of ko, with ample examples, so that the reader fully understands the concept being studied. The first two chapters show the reader how to evaluate a ko, and Chapter Three shows what the value of a ko threat should be. Throughout these and the remaining chapters, example games are given which show how professionals handle various kinds of ko situations. Many small-board games are also provided so as to strip away irrelevant local positions, thereby enabling the reader to concentrate on the topic being discussed. The book ends with 122 problems designed to hammer home the concepts introduced in the first part of this book. They include kos that arise in josekis and common life-and-death positions. The first problems are easy, but they become progressively more difficult. In the final problems you are asked to find moves in positions that confronted professionals in their games.

All About Ko is a comprehensive textbook on ko. A thorough study of it will lay a solid foundation for your progress on the road to mastering ko. It will also give you an appreciation of the profundity of go and the awesome strength of professional go players.

Independent review: bengozen.com

Independent review: http://www.britgo.org/node/3252


K77: Attacking and Defending Moyos To order
by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich

Knowing the basic principles of go is the key to being able to find the best move in the opening and the middle game. The way to internalize these principles is by seeing how they are applied by pros in their games and by contemplating a large number of problems in which these principles are used.

Attacking and Defending Moyos starts out by laying down 13 basic principles of moyos (frameworks of potential territories) with examples from the games of Takemiya Masaki, Yi Ch'ang-ho, Sakata Eio, Go Seigen, Rin Kaiho, Ishida Yoshio, among others. The second chapter presents detailed analyses of games played by top pros, showing how they build and defend moyos and how they attack them. Included are two masterpieces by Kitani Minoru, as well as games by Cho Chikun (the master of invading moyos), Hane Naoki, and Sonoda Yuichi (famous for his hyper-cosmic go). The final chapter presents 151 whole-board problems in which the ideas presented in the first two chapters can be applied.

Attacking and Defending Moyos is an essential book even for those who like to play a tight territorial game, for they will undoubtedly often meet opponents who build moyos. It is also an essential book for those who like to build moyos but may be unsure of how to defend them against an attack.

Independent review: bengozen.com

K78: Fight Like a Pro -- The Secrets of Kiai To order
by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich

Kiai is a concept that has received scant systematic attention in the go literature, even though it is often referred to in game commentaries. Most westerners are familiar with kiai mainly in relation to the martial arts where it is translated as fighting spirit, a phrase that conjures up a feeling of aggression. In go, however, kiai means coming up with innovative and creative moves. Such moves not only have a global perspective, they also take into account local situations and they need to be backed up by deep and accurate reading. Ideally, they perfectly meld the tactical and the strategic elements of a position; they are moves that cause other pros sit up and take notice.

Professional games are full of kiai. A top pro tries to avoid the ordinary move. He strives to play the all-out, 100% move (unless he is well ahead). He will not be submissive in his responses; rather, he will meet attack with counterattack. Just because a move is a joseki move, a pro will still ponder it and try to find another move that is more appropriate to the overall position. This is how new josekis are born.

This book contains 16 fighting games, analyzed in depth and played by some of the world's strongest players from Korea, China, and Japan. For the most part, there are less than ten moves for each figure, making the games easy to follow. However, this book is more than just a game book; it is also a problem book. Throughout each game at crucial points, questions are posed asking the reader what he thinks the next move should be. With this format, the reader becomes fully engaged in the game and the commentary.

This is a book that will change the way you play and think about go.

Independent review: bengozen.com




K79: An Encyclopedia of Go Principles To order
by Richard Bozulich

Go is played on a very large board, consisting of 361 playing points. During the opening phase, there will be perhaps 50 to 100 candidates for a plausible move, and, for each of these candidates the opponent's many possible responses must also be considered as well as your responses to each of these responses, and so on. An exhaustive brute-force search for finding the best move is clearly impractical. Clearly, a go player needs some principles to guide him.

After the opening phase ends, difficult decisions must still be made in the middle game: which groups should be attacked and which of your own groups need to be defended; in which direction should you attack; should you invade or simply reduce your opponent's potential territory. The expert go player definitely needs some principles to guide him in finding the best move. Even in positions where brute-force analysis is required in determining whether a group lives or dies or trying to increase your liberties in a capturing race, certain principles can provide valuable hints for finding the key moves.

The purpose of this book is to bring together all the strategic and tactical principles of go. The 100 principles presented here can certainly be found scattered in the thousands of go books that have been published, but nowhere are they found collected in one place. Books on the go proverbs, which are supposed to incorporate most of the principles of go, contain only about 50 proverbs, many of which are unhelpful, such as "If you don't know ladders, don't play go." Moreover, many important strategic ideas are not included in the go proverbs, such as "Be willing to transfer a moyo from one part of the board to another."

Each principle is supplemented with as many examples as the principle warrants. All the go proverbs that have some concrete relevance to strategy or to tactics are included. With all these principles contained under one cover, a go player can embark on a systematic study of them. Once all 100 principles have been firmly implanted in your mind, you will instinctively and intuitively recall the relevant principle when they arise in your games through pattern recognition. If you are a kyu-level player, knowledge of these 100 principles will improve your game by at least two stones.
288 pages. ISBN 978-4-906574-79-7

        Contents

Chapter One. Five Opening Principles

Principle 1. First occupy the empty corners;
                second, enclose a corner or make an approach move;
                third, extend along the sides.
Principle 2. Don't make too many moves in one part of the board.
                Establish outposts throughout the board.
Principle 3. Play where the fewest stones have been played.
Principle 4. Establish a position inside your opponent's sphere of influence.
Principle 5. Don't let your opponent make two corner enclosures.

Chapter Two. Extensions
Principle 6A. From a single stone, extend two spaces.
Principle 6B. Extend three spaces from a two-stone wall.
Principle 6C. Extend four spaces from a three-stone wall.
Principle 7. When opposing enclosures face each other,
                play on the central point between them.
Principle 8. Extend up to five spaces from a corner enclosure.
Principle 9. Extend at least five spaces from a large-scale wall.
Principle 10. When reinforcing widely spaced extensions,
                 maintain a balance between the third and fourth lines.
Principle 11. The butterfly extension is bad shape.

Chapter Three. Moyos: Territorial Frameworks
Principle 12. When mapping out a moyo, play on the fourth line.
Principle 13A. Play at the junction of two opposing moyos.
Principle 13B. Expand your moyo while reducing your opponent's.
Principle 14. Erase your opponent's moyo with a shoulder hit.
Principle 15. Erase your opponent's moyo with a knight's move.
Principle 16A. Erase your opponent's moyo with a capping move.
Principle 16B. Answer a capping move with a knight's move.
Principle 17. Erase a double-wing formation with a capping move.
Principle 18. Build a moyo with a shoulder hit.
Principle 19. Reduce a large-scale moyo by playing into it no farther than its outer rim.
Principle 20. Don't let your opponent make a moyo while he is reducing yours.
Principle 21. Be willing to transfer a moyo from one part of the board to another.
Principle 22. Against a double-wing extension from a stone on the 4—4 point, invade at the 3—3 point.
Principle 23. Against a 3—3 point invasion, block on the side that makes the biggest moyo or territory.

Chapter Four. Thickness
Principle 24A. Don't approach thickness.
Principle 24B. Use your thickness to attack.
Principle 24C. Don't use thickness to make territory.
Principle 25. Ponnuki is worth 30 points.
Principle 26. The tortoise shell is worth 60 points.

Chapter Five. Defending and Attacking Weak Groups
Principle 27. Play urgent moves before big opening moves.
Principle 27A. Defending a weak group takes priority over big opening moves.
Principle 27B. Attack your opponent's weak stones.
Principle 28A. Confine your opponent's stones.
Principle 28B. Don't allow your stones to be confined.
Principle 28C. Separate your opponent's stones into weak groups, then attack.

Chapter Six. Good and Bad Shape
Principle 29. Don't make empty triangles.
Principle 30. Don't make the pyramid shape.
Principle 31. The plum-bowl shape is as solid as a rock.
Principle 32. Don't make dumpling shapes.

Chapter Seven. Creating and Exploiting a Shortage of Liberties
Principle 33. Play a hane at the head of two stones.
Principle 34. Play a hane at the head of three stones.
Principle 35. Play at the center of three stones.

Chapter Eight. Pressing, Pushing, and Crawling
Principle 36. Don't crawl along the second line.
Principle 37. Avoid crawling along the third line.
Principle 38. Don't push along the fifth line.
Principle 39. Don't push from behind.

Chapter Nine. Attacking
Principle 40. Attack from your weak stones.
Principle 41. When stones are split into two weak groups, one will die.
Principle 42. Attack a weak group by leaning against a stronger one.
Principle 43. Attack with a capping move.
Principle 44. Attack with a knight's move.
Principle 45. A cap, followed by a knight's move, are an effective attacking combination.
Principle 46. Map out territory or a moyo while attacking.
Principle 47. Rob your opponent's stones of their base, then attack.

Chapter Ten. Light and Heavy Stones and Making Sabaki
Principle 48. Attach to make sabaki.
Principle 49. Prevent your opponent from making sabaki with the diagonal attachment
                 and an iron pillar.
Principle 50. Play light moves to avoid making a heavy group.
Principle 51. The one-space jump is rarely a bad move.
Principle 52. Abandon junk stones.
Principle 53. Don't make territory in a area where one of your flanks is open.

Chapter Eleven. Fighting a Ko
Principle 54. There's no ko in the opening.
Principle 55. Be the first to capture the ko.
Principle 56. Don't play ko threats that lose points.

Chapter Twelve. Ladders
Principle 57. Capture the stone caught in a ladder as soon as possible.

Chapter Thirteen. Tactical Principles
Principle 58. Capture the cutting stone.
Principle 59. When caught in a crosscut, extend.
Principle 60. Increase the sacrifice to two stones.
Principle 61. Don't eliminate a cut with a peep.
Principle 62. Attach across the waist of the knight's move.
Principle 63. When your opponent attaches across the waist of the knight's move,
                 don't cut off the attaching stone.
Principle 64. Don't push into a knight's move.
Principle 65. Attach against the stronger stone.
Principle 66. The turn in the center is a big move.
Principle 67. Destroy an eye with a diagonal peep.

Chapter Fourteen: Miscellaneous Principles
Principle 68. In a symmetrical position, play on the central point.
Principle 69. There's death in a hane.
Principle 70. To live with a group, expand its eye space.
Principle 71. To kill a group, reduce the size of its eye space.
Principle 72. In the corner, six live and four die.
Principle 73. On the side, eight live and six die.
Principle 74. The comb formation is alive.
Principle 75. Bent four in the corner is dead.
Principle 76. The carpenter's square lives in a ko.
Principle 77. Without a liberty, the rectangular six in the corner can be killed.
Principle 78. The rectangular six on the side is unconditionally alive.
Principle 79. The flower-six eye space can be killed.
Principle 80. There's a brilliant move on the 2—1 point.
Principle 81. If your group is dead, don't try save it.
Principle 82. If you don't have a good move, play elsewhere.
Principle 83. Fill the outside liberties first.
Principle 84. A group with one eye beats a group with no eyes.
Principle 85A. A three-space eye has three liberties.
Principle 85B. A four-space eye has five liberties.
Principle 85C. A five-space eye has eight liberties.
Principle 85D. A six-space eye has 12 liberties.
Principle 86. In a capturing race, two successive hanes can increase
                 the liberties of a group.
Principle 87. If you lose four corners, resign.
Principle 88. Don't try win by making one big territory.
Principle 89. Don't leave behind an unfinished joseki.
Principle 90. Don't attach when your opponent's stones and yours are on the same line.
                 Attach if they are on different lines.
Principle 91. Don't bump against a stone if it results in a shortage of liberties.
Principle 92. My opponent's key point is also my key point.
Principle 93. Before fighting a ko, count the number of ko threats.
Principle 94. When fighting a ko, start with adjacent ko threats.
Principle 95. A double ko provides an endless number of ko threats.
Principle 96. Abandon a three-step approach-move ko.
Principle 97. Abandon a three-stage ko.
Principle 98. Play a double-sente endgame move as soon as possible.
Principle 99. The monkey jump is worth eight points.
Principle 100. Linking up groups on the first line is worth nine points.



K80: Close Encounters with the Middle Game To order
by Michiel Eijkhout

The middle game is where a game of go is most often is decided. Being strong at the opening will give you an advantage, and accurate reading and calculation in the endgame can gain you many points; but excelling at the middle game is the surest way to victory.

This book presents 32 crucial middle-game positions that arose in top professional games. It focuses on making clear what purpose is served by the moves played and which strategic considerations are at play. It tries to answer a question many amateurs may ask: Why do professionals play where they do?

Every position is discussed in detail, explaining what goes on in the minds of the players, showing the moves that are good, bad, or hard to judge. It makes for an entertaining journey through the realm of professional go and also gives an insight in what lies beneath many professional moves that at first may look strange.

232 pages. ISBN 978-4-906574-80-3


K87: Sabaki — The Art of Settling Stones To order
by Richard Bozulich

During the opening stages of the game the players stake out positions and more or less divide the board. Normally each player wants to win and take just over 50% of the board. This usually involves a balance between safety and risk; that is, making a safe and non-invadable extension or an extension that is slightly farther and limits the opponent's territory. The drawback of the latter is that the position now becomes invadable. This usually means that when an invasion takes place, the invading stones do not have enough space to make an extension that guarantees life. That, in turn, means the invader has to run away. However, running away is not always the best strategy as it is one-sided — that is, it allows your opponent to harass the run-away stones while securing territory and building influence. Often it is far better to make the beginnings of eye-shape — to breathe life into the invading stones — before running away. In other words, "to make sabaki."

Along with fighting a ko, sabaki is one of the most difficult concepts to put into practice, as it involves a variety of high-level techniques, such as sacrificing stones, making good shape, calculating complex variations, using forcing moves (kikashi), and good style (for example, avoiding the elimination of aji). The numerous examples and 122 problems taken from professional games, will introduce the readers to all the techniques that may be required to achieve sabaki in almost any position that might arise in their games.

202 pages. ISBN 978-4-906574-87-2



K88: Attacking and Defending Weak Groups To order
by Richard Bozulich

When evaluating a position, besides determining the balance of territories, an important consideration is the identification of weak groups. Positions often arises in professional games where one side seems to have secured a sizable amount of iron-clad territory, while the other side has little or even no area of the board that he can count on as territory. However, if the side with all the territory has a weak group, the other side can rectify this territorial imbalance by attacking that group. The purpose of the attack is not to capture the weak group, but to harass it and, in the process, build influence that will negatively affect the opponent's groups elsewhere on the board.

Even when the territorial balance is relatively even, one side can gain an advantage by attacking a weak group. On the other hand, failure to reinforce a weak group can result in the disruption of the territorial balance. This book covers all the techniques of attacking and defending weak groups.

Each of the nine chapters starts with a few examples of the technique under study, then continues with a few problems showing how that particular technique was used in a professional game. The tenth chapter presents additional problems whose solutions draw upon the techniques studied in the preceding nine chapters.

212 pages. ISBN 978-4-906574-88-9



If you need more information, Kiseido may be contacted at the following address:
Kiseido
Kagawa 4-8-32
Chigasaki-shi
Kanagawa-ken
Japan 253-0082
Tel. & FAX +81-467-81-0605
e-mail: kiseido61@yahoo.com

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