Life and Death (Elementary Go (Kiseido))
by James Davies
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Book Summary Information
Author: James DaviesEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-08
ISBN: 4906574130
Number of pages: 159
Publisher: Kiseido Publishing Co
Book Reviews of Life and Death (Elementary Go (Kiseido))
Book Review: An excellent, but more advanced book on life and death
Summary: 5 Stars
Introduction:
Life and death is one of the critical elements in the/a game of go, but what exactly is it? It is simply whether a player's stones are captured or prevented from being captured (though I won't go into a deeper explanation here). It's simple, yet very important. To become a strong player, an important fundamental is to be strong in life and death, and if you ask any go player (amatuer or professional) how, the answer will be "Solve lots of life and death problems."
Solving problems helps strengthen a go player's reading ability, and with repetition, the shapes in the problems will be more familiar to the player when they appear in his games (reading is when a player mentally forsees how the game will continue, thinking about different continuations, and to the find the best result possible for both sides). These fundamental shapes also appear in life and death.
The Book:
Content:
Normally, books about life and death are simply "problem books," which simply contain life and death problems. Life and Death (the book) is a bit different, and is mainly concerned about the fundamental shapes that appear.
The book begins with a small introduction about life and death, and defines some common terms that the reader will need to know. Moving along, each chapter is devoted to a specific shape, or theme. A chapter is begun by introducing the reader to the shape and showing them some of the common continuations that can occur. On the next page, the reader is put to the test, and is given some problems to solve.
Difficulty:
N.B.: The content in this book is aimed at stronger players who are at least in the single digit kyu range (9k up), and will not be suitable for beginners. For beginners, some books I recommend are the Learn to Play Go series by Janice Kim, to learn about the basics of life and death, and for life and death problems, the Graded Go Problems for Beginners series by Kano Yoshinori and 1001 Life and Death Problems by Richard Bozulich.
Summary:
Pros:
* Smooth process: I like how the reader is introduced to the shape and it's continuation, then is given problems to tackle himself.
* It is kind of a quasi-reference book, especially for the corner shapes, but is definitely not a life and death dictionary.
* Size: Though it's not related to the content of the book, it's a small book, which is a handy thing.
Cons:
* Price: My major gripe is the price, which unfortunately is the norm for go books translated into English. But still, $15 for this tiny book...
Conclusion:
Life and Death is an excellent book for the stronger kyu player to learn about the more difficult fundamental shapes that appear in games.
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