This was one of the first Go books I read when I was about 13kyu on KGS. The book had been recommended to me by many people, some even claiming I would gain at least 2 stones strength from reading it. This was a lot for a book to live up to but I was not disappointed.

The book is broken up into chapters of different tesuji based on their purpose. Most chapters start with some examples and discussion and a few similar problems for you to attempt. At the end of each chapter there are some review problems to test you. I found this structure quite effective and the book easy to read. After working through the book once I quickly rose to about 9-10kyu on KGS and I attribute that mainly to this book.

I would recommend this book to nearly anyone who hasn't read it, but higher dan level players would probably find it too easy.

One of the Kiseido's "Elementary Go" series, "Tesuji" is divided into 16 chapters, each consisting of several sections focusing on one tesuji or technique. At the end of each section, there are several questions to answer and at the end of each chapter there are review questions on the whole. The final chapter poses a series of challenging problems, all with answers and some with more than one variation. The book is very easy to follow, with clear diagrams covering more than 50 tesuji. While some are fairly easy, some are very challenging. I read this book when I was 14k, and there are chapters where I can answer all of their questions, but there are a few chapters where I only can answer half of the questions. "Tesuji" will improve your strength by at least one to two stones if you are a low or middle kyu player, although players of all strengths will benefit from reading it.

This book is an introduction to tesuji, which are clever tactical moves. The first chapter is about reading, and it talks about how to go about approching tactical situations, including a wonderful example showing why you shouldn't play moves in a vain hope to catch your opponent napping. The next fourteen chapters each introduce a related family of tesujis; each tesuji comes with some problem, and each chapter ends with some review problems. Finally, the last chapter contains some "challenge problems".

I think that this is a great book; I read it when I was about 11 kyu, and it improved my strength by two stones. It helped me not so much because I learned the specific tesuji in it (they're all useful, but don't expect to have them all down pat after a first reading) but because it was my first prolonged practice at reading, so once I was done with the book I was much better at reading than I was when I started, which paid off immediately in my games.