This classic is a treasure chest of stories, game commentaries and problems by the well- known Japanese pro (5-Dan at the time of publication, now 6-Dan), prolific writer of go books for himself and for many famous professionals, and peripatetic teacher.

John Power and Richard Dolen translated the material in this book from the original Japanese. There are seven essays regaling us with stories of historic episodes in Japanese go, tidbits of go culture, and the life of Japanese professional players. For example, there is the story of a life-and-death problem that perplexed strong professionals but was easily solved by an amateur 9-kyu player. Then there is the essay on how one can become stronger by learning how to resign at the right time. The book is graced by the inclusion of haiku poems which Mr. Nakayama's father, a noted haiku poet, wrote when shown the essays.

There are also three very detailed commentaries on fascinating professional games, in which we can share the atmosphere in which the game took place as well as the character of the players. Finally, the book concludes with 20 wonderful whole-board problems with solutions, including several of Mr. Nakayama's trademark long ladder problems and finishing with one by the great Dosaku (or perhaps his disciple Inseki, Meijin) in which Black captures 72 stones but can't make two eyes. This is not an instructional book, but you will probably read it more times than any other go book in your library. Reading and savoring it will immensely increase your pleasure in playing go. Many of us thank our lucky stars that we could buy a copy from Mr. Nakayama himself at a go congress, or from Ishi Press, which sold them for a while.

This book has seven essays, three game commentaries, and twenty problems. The essays are, for me, the best part of the book. He talks about becoming a professional, being a professional, amusing stories involving professionals, and about all sorts of things involving go. They're a joy to read, and do a much better job of putting a human face on go than anything else I've seen.

The commentaries talk more about the players than most commentaries do. It's been a while since I've read them, so I don't have much to say about them. The problems are almost all ladder problems - there are typically stones on the board making some amusing shape (e.g. the Japanese characters for Japan), and you have to tell whether or not a ladder works. There are stones in just the right places so that the ladder usually makes all sorts of strange twists and turns around the entire board before ending.

The book is a lot of fun. It was published by the author and distributed by Ishi. It's now out of print. I hope somebody else publishes more of his work; in particular, I'd like to see a volume consisting solely of essays by him.