I must beat the Japanese 9-dans. Move X showed good judgment and took the whole board situation into account. One must come up with a battle strategy that is based on detailed analysis. Memorize these sentences and you will have absorbed 75% of the content of "Nie Weiping on Go".

Curiously, the first 27 pages of this go book contain no go at all, but rather a biographical sketch of Nie Weiping's childhood and early career. Poorly written and rife with nationalism, the chapter was likely inserted by a government propaganda officer and contributes little to the overall book. The actual go content of the book is divided into several chapters, including forcing moves and utilizing thickness, each ostensibly related to the overall theme of positional judgment. Il lustrating each concept is a collection of game commentaries, showing how a particular theme played a role in a Nie Weiping win over (you guessed it) a Japanese 9-dan. After suffering through the initial biography, I had hoped that the commentaries might contain a few grains of useful advice, but this was not to be. With the exception of the last two "fully annotated" games, a typical analysis gave a half-dozen variation diagrams accompanied by a largely superficial commentary, which included such trivial advice as "Knowing one's enemy like oneself wins all battles."

"Nie Weiping on Go" appears to be more of a propaganda piece than a serious effort to teach go. Players interested in positional judgment should consult the book of the same name, while those wanting in-depth game commentaries would do better with a Go World subscription. Overall, this book is a disappointment.

As a 5 dan I don't pay attention to many books out there, but contrary to fellow 5 dan Philip Waldron I think "Nie Weiping on Go" was a great book. The first, biographical pages, I found a real pleasure to read, telling me more of the recent development of go in China than I had previously come across. Those pages also provide a sense of the dedication it took for one of the most famous Chin ese players to become a top pro and gave me a respect for the player I did not previously posses.

As for the commentary throughout the book, I must again respectfully disagree with Philip Waldron's review (3/11/05 EJ). Yes, the entire book is on positional judgment (this is why the book is called "Nie Weiping on Go - The Art of Positional Judgment") so buyers should expect the book to related almost completely to the subject. The book does this by helping you count territory so you know who is ahead. Example from the book: " White can get 15 points on the left, 5 points on top, 11+ points in the lower right, 9 points on the right, for a total of 40 points (this makes more sense when you can see the actual diagram but you get the idea here), black has 5 points in the upper left about 25 points in the center, 2 points in the upper right for a total of 32 points black must obtain 15 points in order to win the game"). Based on this assessment, you can then find out what to expect and how to prepare for it. Nie then gives you diagrams on almost every page for what happens if something else was played.

I admit that unlike most go books, you will not find such things like "when A happens you must play B" because positional judgment is not so easily defined. It is based on what you're trying to play for, whether it's influence or territory, and what your opponent is playing for. Only then can you begin finding the right move that works with the entire board because it expands off those meanings. Finding those kinds of moves can turn the tide of a game and that type of broad thinking is contained in this book, which can only help your go. For these reasons I highly recommend "Nie Weiping on Go" and hope to see more form him in the future.

This book starts out with a 30-page biographical introduction, then has chapters on The Opening, Positional Judgment, Timeliness in Initiating Battles, Finesse and Trade-off Decisions, Forcing Moves, Utilizing Thickness, Defense of Weak Stones, and Applications Shown in Fully Annotated Games.

I quite enjoyed reading the biographical introduction, but it is written in stilted language that sounds a lot like propaganda most of the time. As to the rest of the contents, it's fascinating to see the way that Nie analyzes positions, and the kinds of things that he thinks about before deciding where to play. On the other hand, there's so much high-level analysis behind his judgments that is often only hinted at in the book that most of the time I have to take his word for it that it's better to play in one area of the board instead of another area of the board. Still, even though this book may be lacking in concrete specifics, it really gives you a lot to think about; I think that it's well worth reading, and I expect that as I get better I'll get more out of it.