Go Reviews

Attack and Defense
Elementary Go Series, Vol. 5
Akira Ishida and James Davies
Kiseido; $15
Reviewed by Eric Lavigne 8k

        Attack and Defense is a book worth reading and re-reading. I bought Attack and Defense as a 15 kyu player and understood enough of it then to make the book worthwhile. Now, as a 8-kyu player, I still feel like I've absorbed less that 10% of what this book has to offer, so there's no doubt that it will remain useful to me when I finally reach shodan.

        Attack and Defense starts off with basic positional judgment, discussing the balance of territory and power. It seems obvious that territory and power are important, but this chapter showed me that I wasn't putting sufficient effort into building up power. I would put everything I had into killing something, sometimes without actually making the kill, then spend the rest of the game protecting the weak groups I had created. Attack and Defense emphasizes attacking for other reasons, to build up power or to secure territory, so that, whether the target lives or dies, the attacker benefits in the long run.

        The first half of the book covers how to attack, tesuji for chasing or weakening enemy groups, and strategies for making your attacks more painful. Everything leads clearly back to the two fundamental goals: territory and power.

        The second half of the book covers other middle-game issues. A chapter on defense covers preventive measures, in addition to methods of saving groups that have already come under attack. More advanced topics (which I still have a hard time with) include forcing, inducing, reducing, invading, and ko fights.

        Attack and Defense has a lot in it; trying to absorb it all is an overwhelming task but it'll definitely repay the effort.

http://www.kiseido.com/Begin3.htm#K14