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Beauty and the Beast

By Shen Guosun 7d

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Title Beauty and the Beast
Author Shen Guosun 7d
Translator Dr. Roy C. Schmidt
Publisher Yutopian Enterprises
Codes y17, PAY17
Date 1997
ISBN 1-889554-22-7
Pages 172
Dimensions 8 1/2. x 5 1/2. - 217mm x 140mm
Publisher's URL https://www.yutopian.com/yutop/cat?product=PAY17

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This book treats the major facets of o theory from two perspectives: historical and practical. Classical Chinese treatises on go are referenced, and the development of the concepts in modern play is described in detail. Although the author readily acknowledges the great contributions of the Japanese masters to go theory, he stresses more recent contributions by modern-day Chinese masters. Then each theoretical concept is shown applied to practical situations on the go board, so that the readers can quickly apply the concepts in their own play. The examples of theory-in-action are centered around key moments in important tournament games. the author illustrates, with dramatic affect, how seemingly incomprehensiblebolts from the bluethat we sometimes call"exquisite plays"are really firmly rooted in the application of go theory.

Along the way, the author provides us with biographical information, anecdotes, and playing style profiles on all the leading Chinese players of the 1980s. Some of this material is not available in any other form, because it stems from the author's intimate knowledge of the players as his colleagues and friends.

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Contents show/hide

  Translator's Preface ...iv
  Author's Foreword ...iv
 
1. The Master of Deployment Never Faces Combat
  Breakthrough ...1
  Orderly Progress, Step-by-Step ...10
  Embellish It and Use It Again ...17
  Weed Through the Old to Bring Forth the New ...23
 
2. The Master of Combat Never Faces Defeat
  Sacrificing Stones to Reduce Liberties ...29
  Attack is the Best Defense ...36
  The Strong Easily Force the Weak ...40
  Attack and Defense Have Limits ...46
 
3. The Master of Defeat Never Faces Chaos
  What Seems Surrounded Is Not Surrounded ...53
  Off-the-Cuff Response ...60
 
4. The Master of Attack is Aware of Opportunities
  Three Birds With One Stone ...65
  Take to the Skies and Attack ...69
  Advance and Retreat at Will ...73
  Catch Him Off Guard ...77
 
 
5. The Master of Planning Never Faces Restrictions
  Tangled Up in the Main Threads ...83
  Treachery After Trickery ...88
  Mutual Envelopment ...92
  Two Camps Confronting One Another ...97
 
 
6. The Master of Plots Knows Every Detail
  Seemingly Clumsy But Actually Exquisite ...105
  Front and Back, Bending and Stretching ...110
  A One-Move Exchange ...115
  He Can Bend or Stretch ...118
 
7. The Master of Arms Knows Theory
  Metamorphosis Between Attack and Defense ...123
  Marshalling the Troops for Deployment ...126
  Saving Stones in Trouble / Making an Exchange ...131
  An Already Weak Position ...136
  Influence Leads the Way ...139
  Hopelessly Outnumbered ...143
  Hide an Opportunity, Recognize an Opportunity ...147
  Roll-up and Capture ...154
  Act According to Circumstances ...158
  A Difficult Problem ...162
 
  Glossary ...167
  Index ...169

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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 book is subtitled "Exquisite Play and Go Theory", and it largely consists of examples of people making surprising moves that turn out to be good, and showing how that those moves aren't really as out of the blue as they seem, but that they really arise from proper application of go theory. There's also some background information about the players involved, so you learn something about the Chinese go scene.

I like this book quite a bit. The positions discussed are clearly analyzed, and they're good examples of play. My only caveat there is that this book doesn't start with a principle and give examples of that (or rather, the principles that it starts with are extremely vague and general), so if you're looking for a systematic discussion of theory, this isn't the place to go. Similarly, it doesn't give examples of bad play, places where a principle should have been used. But if you want to see examples and discussions of good moves, this is the place to go. I don't know how much it will actually improve my game right now (I'm an AGA 2k), but I expect that as I get stronger I'll get more and more out of this book.

I also like the talk about the Chinese go scene. Ishi and Kiseido are both Japan-based, so I feel fairly familiar with the go scene there, but I was pretty ignorant about what's going on in China until Yutopian started publishing.

This book reminded me of Nie Weiping on Go, so if you liked that one, you'll probably like this one. (You might like this one even if you didn't like that one.)



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