Keshi and Uchikomi. Reduction and Invasion in Go
By Iwamoto Kaoru 9d
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| Title | Keshi and Uchikomi. Reduction and Invasion in Go |
|---|---|
| Author | Iwamoto Kaoru 9d |
| Translator | T. Ogoshi |
| Publisher | Slate & Shell |
| Code | ssaga07 |
| Date | 2002 |
| ISBN | 0-9709530-3-8 |
| Pages | 208 |
| Dimensions | 7 7/16. x 8 7/16. - 189mm x 214mm |
| Sample pages | ssaga07.pdf |
| Publisher's URL | http://www.slateandshell.com/ssaga07.html |
Blurb show/hide
The material in this book is based on a text by Iwamoto Kaoru 9 Dan that was serialized in the American Go Journal in the 1980's. The original translation was done by T. Ogoshi assisted by Roget A. Newlander, and the journal articles were edited by Don Weiner. This publication gave us the opportunity to reformat the text and to correct a number of typographical and diagram formatting errors in the original articles. We have also included the final sections of Iwamoto's study, which were never published in the journal. The new material is Types 13 through 18 in Part II, Invasion.
Iwamoto focuses on reducing and invading formations based on a corner enclosure from the 3-4 point, a very common pattern in actual games. His analysis is systematic, clear, and thorough, and will be a great aid to virtually any player. Iwamoto shows how formations that weaker players tend to treat as finished territory are in fact easily open to invasion or reduction, and his review of the tactics used in such fighting will strengthen the arsenal of even dan level players.
Because the material is presented in small sections, the book lends itself to a systematic study and also serves as a reference work on how to deal with corner enclosure formations. We have provided a table of contents that shows the various patterns Iwamoto examines so that the reader can easily find the analysis of a particular pattern.
Contents show/hide
| Glossary of Japanese Terms | ...viii |
| Preface | ...ix |
| Introduction | ...1 |
| Part I: Reduction | ...3 |
| PART II: Invasion | ...93 |
Reviews show/hide
Review by David Carlton show/hide
| Review Author | David Carlton | Reviewer Strength | 1 kyu |
| Author's Email | carlton@bactrian.org | website | http://www.bactrian.org/~carlton/ |
This is a series of books subtitled "kyu level commentaries on professional games"; two volumes have been published so far. The format is a 44 page pamphlet small enough to fit into my jeans pocket. Each book contains 5 game commentaries, taken from Go Review; in the first volume, additional explanatory comments are added by the editor.
I didn't think the first volume was a very good fit for its intended audience; my reaction was that the commentaries were too short, at too high a level, and containing too many throwaway tactical comments on individual moves. The second volume is somewhat better: there are more comments giving basic information about the flow of the game: e.g. information about which groups are strong and what their direction of play is, which I certainly had difficult seeing as a beginner. (And still have difficulty seeing...) But it still lapses at times into tactical commentary at an excessively high level: my basic reaction to the second game (a seven-stone pro-amateur game), for example, was that if I could read as well as a pro, I could probably beat a pro at seven stones, which is neither surprising nor useful to know.
And I still feel that the basic format isn't particularly suited to kyu-level commentaries. Commentaries by their very nature will try to explain the key turning points in the game, which frequently require going into a level of depth that's hard for a kyu-level player to get much out of. But if you're cramming 5 games into 44 small pages, there just isn't much room for explanation at a more basic level.
