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Learn to Play Go Volume IV: Battle Strategies

By Janice Kim, Jeong Soo-hyun

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Title Learn to Play Go Volume IV: Battle Strategies
Authors Janice Kim, Jeong Soo-hyun
Publishers Samarkand, Good Move Press
Code l4a
Date
ISBN 0-9644796-4-8
Pages 169
Dimensions 9 1/4. x 7 3/16. - 180mm x 235mm
Series Info Learn to Play Go Vol IV
Publishers's URL http://www.samarkand.net/Web_store/web_store.cgi?page=L4A.html

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In Volume IV of this award-winning series, two top masters reveal the essential principles and
techniques of good fighting, many explained in English for the first time:

Contents show/hide

  Preface and Acknowledgements ...i

Part I: The Middle Game

(1) INVASION AND REDUCTION ...2
    1 The Difference ...2
    2 Safety First ...5
    3 Use Backup ...7
    4 When Invading Looks Grim, Reduce ...10
    5 Reducing Large Areas ...16
(2) BATTLE STRATEGIES ...20
    1 Identifying Key Stones ...22
    2 Don't Separate Living Groups ...25
    3 Good Defense ...26
    4 Watch Your Connections Carefully ...28
    5 Don't Fear the Bogus Attack ...31
    6 Fight With Purpose ...33
    7 Play Aggressively When You Are Thick ...36
    8 At Times, Exchange ...40
(3) HOW TO ATTACK ...42
    1 Take Away The Base ...45
    2 Make Profit While Attacking ...48
    3 Use the Knight's Move ...51
    4 Drive Towards Your Thickness ...52
    5 Protect Your Own Weaknesses ...54
(4) HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR STONES ...56
    1 Make a Base ...56
    2 Make Eye Space ...61
    3 Tread Lightly in Your Opponent's Area ...64
    4 Take Advantage of Ko ...66
    5 Give Up Hopeless Stones ...68

Part II: Life and Death

(5) SEARCHING FOR LIFE ...72
    1 Eye Shapes ...72
    2 How to Live ...75
    3 The Tiger's Mouth ...77
    4 The Throw-in ...79
    5 Utilizing No-Parking Zones ...80
    6 Dual Life ...83
    7 Ko ...85
    8 Playing Under the Stones to Live ...88
(6) DEATH BY DESIGN ...90
    1 How to Kill ...90
    2 The Pivot ...93
    3 The Alien Symbol ...95
    4 The Snapback ...98
    5 The Strange Property of the 2-1 Point ...99
    6 Playing Under the Stones to Kill ...101
    7 Dead L ...102
(7) CAPTURING RACES ...106
    1 Block Outside Liberties First ...106
    2 Counting Liberties ...108
    3 Eye vs No Eye ...110
    3 3-3, 4-5, 5-8, 6-12 ...113
    4 Big Eye vs. Small Eye ...116
    5 Take Ko Last ...118
    6 Don't Start if You Can't Win ...120
(8) KO FIGHTING ...124
    1 Don't Be Afraid of Ko ...124
    2 Measuring Eternity ...128
    3 Picnic Ko ...130
    4 Multi-step Ko ...133
    4 Double Ko ...138
    5 How to Use Ko Threats ...140
(9) Test Yourself ...146
Index ...168

Reviews show/hide

Review by Lawrence Ku show/hide 26/05/2003

Review Author Lawrence Ku Reviewer Strength 11k

This was the first English go book my parents bought for me, so I have a special feeling for it. In comparison with other go books, "Learn to Play" uses large pictures to demonstrate many variations and provides explanations of many go terms that will be very useful for a beginner. When I received this book, I was 21 kyu and it gave me a systematic view of attacking techniques, helping me a lot in my own attacking skills even though I could not fully understand all of the material in part 1, which covers middle game techniques such as invasion and reduction, battle strategies, how to attack, and how to take care of your stones or how to make good shape. While the second part of the book, which covers life and death and ko fighting, was a bit too easy for me I recently re-read "Learn to Play" and found Part 1 still very useful.



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