Catalogue
Many go books promise to explain the fundamentals; here is one that really keeps its promise. Kageyama's subjects are connectivity, good and bad shape, the way stones should 'move', the difference between territory and spheres of influence, how to use thickness and walls, how to train yourself to read, where to start looking in a life-and-death problem - matters so fundamental that other writers miss them completely. He also points out the right ways to study - how to study joseki, for example. What changed me from an amateur into a professional was getting a really firm grip on the fundamentals', writes Kageyama. The essence of seven years of amateur and twenty-two years of professional playing experience are distilled into these pages, and they are filled with advice that all go players will find practical.
List of Content
009 Chapter 1
Ladders and Nets
035 Chapter 2
Cutting and Connecting
055 Chapter 3
The Stones Go Walking
065 Chapter 4
The Struggle to Get Ahead
087 Chapter 5
Territory and Spheres of Influence
110 Interlude
Lecturing on NHK-TV
117 Chapter 6
Life and Death
139 Chapter 7
How to Study Joseki
159 Chapter 8
Good Shape and Bad
179 Chapter 9
Proper and Improper Moves
191 Chapter 10
Tesuji: the Snap-Back; Shortage of Liberties; the Spiral Ladder; the Placement; the Attachment; Under the Stones.
243 Chapter 11
Endgame Pointers
255 Appendix
Game Commentary: Beating the Meijin
Review(s)
'If you want to get stronger, read this book.' This call is addressed to a wide range of go players, from beginners who have barely learned the rules to experts with dan rankings. In the following pages I bequeath to the world the essence of all the experience and knowledge that seven years as an amateur and twenty-two more as a professional have given me.
The book's main themes are the importance of fundamentals, the philosophy of go, and how to study. All I ask is that the reader not do anything so foolish as to finish it in one day. It should be read deliberately, a chapter a day at the fastest, and a fortnight to finish the whole book. If the reader will then spend another fortnight rereading it and learning from it as he would from a good instructor, I think I can promise that he will surmount the barrier of his present rank.
Toshiro Kageyama Summer, 1970, preface | 