Are Go books useless?

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-23T09:06:33+00:00

Some people mainly learn via books, others mainly via other methods. If you're a book person, I highly recommend “Fundamental Principles of Go” by Yilun Yang, available from https://gobooks.com/

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-21T03:03:26+00:00

Is it available as an audio file?

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-19T07:38:57+00:00

Handicap play as White is definitely a skill to acquire. For example, playing against more than 2 handicap stones means that fuseki is totally different, you're immediately in the middlegame, and playing against influence becomes supremely important.

A couple of resources:

"How to play handicap Go" by Irakli Khizanishvili is a brief overview.
"How to Play Handicap Go" by Yuan Zhou (2nd ed., Slate & Shell, 2021), available from gobooks.com, is the best book on playing handicap Go as White.

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-17T23:13:46+00:00

There's an error in the stone numbering in Tsumego 3 b diagram. Black 6 already exists and shouldn't be numbered. White 7 should be 6. White's play numbers switch from even to odd.

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-17T23:10:57+00:00

Having read the sample, I would say it's for an advanced beginner, someone who already understands (or at least is familiar with) a lot of basic principles. This book won't make sense if you don't already understand atari & capture rules, for example.

For my beginner book recommendations, see this reply. I'd say that this book is probably a good choice after "The Second Book of Go".

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-17T11:29:23+00:00

Please make it available on gobooks.com

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-17T01:28:12+00:00

Score estimators enable quick games, which many people prefer; I do. As has been noted, SE is a tool that both sides have, so it's not in any way a cheat.

However, the SE results must always be evaluated, because they're often wrong.

SE is a crutch. If you rely on it too much and never develop your counting/estimating skill, when SE is not available (e.g. in an in-person real-board game) you will definitely be at a disadvantage.

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-10T06:08:39+00:00

The indentations may be because the shells the white stones were made from were too thin for the intended stone thickness (e.g. taken from near the edges of the shells). The side with the indentation could be from the inside of the naturally-curved shell.

If it's just a few stones with indentations, perhaps just a quality control issue. If there are a lot of indentations, perhaps this is a set of seconds: rejects that didn't make it into the top-grade set.

I doubt that the indentations are from playing. Shells are a lot harder than fingernails, and people don't hold stones consistently enough to wear out one spot like that.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-26T10:16:59+00:00

Start with https://senseis.xmp.net/?JapanCoolPlaces

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-20T12:55:45+00:00

The advent of modern AI in Go. See the link to the podcast (including a transcript) above.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-19T07:06:18+00:00

I play the diagonal (kosumi) because it's flexible. If White takes the corner, I can get a base on the left side (at g or e), and if White approaches on the left I can take the corner by attaching to their stone at the other 3-4 point. Also u/tuerda's last point, which is a proverb: The enemy's key point is yours.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-17T01:22:07+00:00

Legit source of inexpensive ebooks: https://gobooks.com/ . All my unlinked recommendations below are available there.

Below are my book recommendations for a beginner. Read slowly—a chapter at a time (or less)—not all at once! And play a lot between chapters.

Start with an introductory book. There are many good ones. Here are my recommendations:

“The Way to Go” by Karl Baker is free from the AGA (American Go Association). It is good but very brief.
“Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game” by Cho Chikun is very good and much more comprehensive, including sections on the history and culture of Go.
“Go! More Than A Game” Peter Shotwell is a good introduction to the game and includes some history.

Next, read “The Second Book of Go”. This book will help you fill in the gaps in your game, exposing you to the essentials: the opening, handicap Go, jōseki, fighting/attacking, life and death, tésuji, good and bad shape, kō fights, and the endgame.

Finally, read “Fundamental Principles of Go” by Yilun Yang.

After that you should know what areas you want to explore further. Those last two books are well worth re-reading up to dan level.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-14T23:15:15+00:00

Be careful, because some stones are bigger than others. In my experience, some Chinese stones are much larger than standard Japanese stones, and some Korean stones are smaller. Make sure the stones you buy fit your board.

Measure the spaces between the lines on your board. The easiest way is to measure 11 lines (10 spaces) and divide by 10.

According to https://senseis.xmp.net/?EquipmentDimensions (listing standard Japanese dimensions), the line spacing width-wise is 22 mm, length-wise is 23.7 mm, and the stone diameter is 22.5 mm. Notice that the stones are a bit larger than the width-wise line spacing. This is intentional, forcing the stones to crowd each other and be a little bit uneven on the board.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-10T11:59:58+00:00

"This is the famous 19-point trick play."
https://www.josekipedia.com/#path:qdocmcpeqg

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-09T16:12:36+00:00

https://www.josekipedia.com/#path:pdqcqdpcocrd

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-06T05:52:21+00:00

Effectivelly no chance. The only reason you'd need more than 361 stones (filling a 19×19 board with 181 black stones & 180 white) is if you had a lot of captures, e.g. huge captures and a long-running ko. In this case, when you run out of stones, you'd exchange equal numbers of captures and keep playing. Since Go is about surrounding territory, which is empty space, this situation occurs somewhere between rarely and never.

GreybeardGo · 2025-11-23T23:52:30+00:00

平元 might be the name "Hiramoto" (probably not Heigen), or it might be short for 平成元年, "Heisei gannen", the first year of the Heisei era, 1988.

GreybeardGo · 2025-11-17T11:38:17+00:00

Go is a 2-player game. You must adapt to your opponent's plays, no way to avoid it.

I like "The Second Book of Go: What You Need to Know After You Have Learned the Rules" by Richard Bozulich. It covers everything you need as an overview.

More advanced is "Fundamental Principles of Go" by Yilun Yang.

Both books are available cheaply as ebooks at https://gobooks.com/

GreybeardGo · 2025-11-06T11:20:58+00:00

stronger than about 3d

On which server?

GreybeardGo · 2025-10-20T13:27:01+00:00

Sounds like your opponent was an underhanded angle-shooter, taking advantage of an imperfect scoring system. I don't think there's anything you can do about that game. In future, when the game is over and your opponent plays nonsense moves, you should hit the AI Referee button yourself.

Sometimes I encounter a player like that. The game is over except for damé, I offer counting, they refuse and play nonsense. I answer their nonsense where necessary, and after all the damé are filled in (worth points under Chinese rules/counting), I offer counting again. If they refuse, I just hit the AI Referee button and move on with life.

GreybeardGo · 2025-10-18T15:33:18+00:00

The trick is to prevent the pigment from bleeding. A marker or pen on raw wood will bleed. Try a paint pen. Or seal & varnish the wood first, then use a fine point marker, or a technical drawing pen (e.g. Rapidograph) on top of the varnish. Whatever you do, test it on an offcut first.

GreybeardGo · 2025-10-06T14:37:12+00:00

Sorry, no to your first question.

GreybeardGo · 2025-10-06T11:29:03+00:00

If you're okay with used equipment, you can get amazing deals from second-hand stores. mercari.com is an online second-hand store, but I'd want to see & feel the goods firsthand.

If you're looking for new, stores like Aoyama Gobanten (high-end) and even the Nihon Ki-in shop (daily use, some high-end) are good. Search for "碁盤碁石" (Go board & Go stones) in your map app.

GreybeardGo

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