Go Reviews

Life and Death, Elementary Go Series Vol. 4
By James Davies,
Published by Kiseido Publishing Company
157 pages, $13.00
Reviewed by Lawrence Ku, AGA 11k

This book is one of the Elementary Go series published by Kiseido. I don't know why this book is Vol. 4, as I think it should be Vol. 2 since I'd prefer to read it right after Vol. 1 'In the Beginning'. If you want to study life and death, this book is a great one to start with. It begins with the simplest 'three-space' shapes and gradually moves to four-space, five-space, and more complicated shape such as, L+1, J and carpenter's square. Not only does the book discuss the life and death of those different shapes, but also teaches you how to make eyes, what are false eyes, how to attack, defend, and throw-in. Divided into 36 sections, there are a few problems to help you practice the new techniques at the end of each section. I read this book when I was 16k and found that while two-thirds of the material was easy, the rest was very challenging. "Life and Death" is excellent for both beginner and mid-level kyu players.

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