Go Reviews

The ABC's of Attack and Defense
By Michael Redmond 9P
Published by Slate & Shell, 221 pp
Reviewed by Lawrence Ku 2d

       Ever had trouble during handicap games? Don't know how to handle that double approach? Confused when your opponent makes unreasonable cuts? Michael Redmond's "ABC's of Attack and Defense" has four main discussions: starting an attack by cutting, handling the double approach, using pincers to fight, and miai and exchanges. In the first chapter, Redmond, the US-born 9-dan professional, explains how to separate the opponent's stones to create multiple weak groups in handicap situations. The second chapter provides a detailed explanation of the common double approaches so even mid-kyu players can understand it. The third chapter focuses on the attacking and fighting that stems from the double approach. The last chapter describes playing against the 3-4 point, 4-5 point, and 3-5 points by using miai and exchanges.
     Unlike other attacking books, this book only focuses on handicap situations. However, it does a great job of describing these situations in detail. While appropriate for mid-kyu players, dan players and single-digit kyu players will find this book more of a review. Each time I've read this book, I've picked up something new.