Aimed at the mid kyu player, this book does a wonderful job at covering basic concepts, strategies and techniques. The first volume of this series in progress covers basic joseki and fuseki in openings, but in a method that integrates a global view. The author also spends a chapter discussing "oba" or big points and how they arise in openings.

Starting with a survey of common openings, such as the Chinese, three and four point openings, various strategy and tactics are discussed in the context of these openings. Next the author spends several chapters on the best ways to invade them.

One of the best aspects of this book is the method of presentation. The author uses a lesson format in which he asks a question and the students give their answers. The best solution is explained and then the weak point in the student's answer is examined. I found that very helpful when comparing my thoughts with the explanations in the book. It should also be noted that many of the games on which comments are made are taken from various professional games. I hope that Yutopian plans on publishing the next installment in this series soon.

This is the a projected three-volume intermediate-level series, only the first volume of which has been published. The first volume talks about the opening and about invading; the second volume will talk about attacking, and the third will talk about defending and some general stuff. As a three-volume series giving an overview of various aspects of the game, the coverage of topics is intermediate between books like Kageyama's Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go that try to say a little bit about everything and books that are devoted to a single aspect of the game, like most other intermediate books. (One caveat: the book is a bit short (150 pages), so those three volumes won't cover as much as one might expect.)

These volumes are based on a TV program that Wang hosted, and as a result have a lecture- style (or classroom-style) format. I think that this fits their overview goals quite nicely. The author can't hope to give a comprehensive treatment of anything, and this format allows him to talk about concepts using a series of concrete examples. The most distinctive aspect of the format, however, is that he has four students whom he periodically asks questions of. They sometimes give the right answer; frequently, however, they give wrong answers which are a lot more like the answers that I would have come up with, and it's great to see Wang talk about the merits of the different answers. It feels a lot more like a class that way, and while I wouldn't want all books to be written like that, I'm glad this one is.

I'm an AGA 2kyu, and I think that the level is good for me; it seems to me like it's targeted at people from about 5kyu through the low dans, and would probably be helpful for anybody who is at least around 10kyu or so.