The Nihon Ki-in Handbook Series, Volume 4: Handicap Go Nihon Ki-in Editor: Fujisawa Kazunari
Translated by Robert Terry 
Edited by Craig Hutchinson 
Yutopian Enterprises, 2001 
Reviewed by Bob Felice

Handicap Go analyzes typical White openings in 3 to 9 stone handicap go. The book shows Black's best responses, but there is much here for White, too. Many of the patterns covered were new to me, and I will want to try them when I give stones in a handicap game. Each handicap is accorded a full chapter, which begins with a series of diagrams showing the principal patterns the chapter will cover. I hope future editions of the book will add a cross-reference to the diagrams, so the reader can jump directly to the proper page to study a particular pattern. Each chapter starts with an overview entitled "Guidelines for x Stone Games." These overviews summarize the key concepts for this type of handicap game. The overviews are brief, averaging only about half a page, and leave me hungry for more. I feel the overviews are one of the book's strengths, since this material is accessible to players of all levels. Handicap Go is not a book for beginners. Single digit Kyus and Dans will find many patterns to study. But some of the presented sequences are long, or complicated (or both!) Weaker players will occasionally find themselves lost after reading the chapter overview.

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