Product Description

Battle Strategies.

Volume IV of the Learn to Play Go series. Two top masters reveal the essential principles and techniques of good fighting, many explained in English for the first time. Designed for those who have completed the first three volumes, or the intermediate Go player.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #337340 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 164 pages

About the Author
Janice Kim was born in Illinois in 1969. She entered the professional dan ranks in Korea in 1987, the only Westerner ever to do so. She won the Fuji Womens's Championship in 1984, took second place in the World Youth Championship in 1985, and third place in the EBS Cup in 1994. In 1998 she represented the US in the Bohae Cup.

A graduate of New York University, Ms. Kim lives in Manhattan. She teaches Go and has regular columns in US and Korean publications. In 1997 she created Samarkand, a mail-order catalog of Go and game equipment and accessories.

Customer Reviews

Less Organized, More Thoughtful
This is currently the last of four books written by Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-hyun. The first two volumes are designed to take a newcomer to the game of Go and help them achieve a modest but significant level of competence. The third volume is best suited to the player who has achieved some comfort with hand-to-hand combat and is ready to approach the more complex tactical and strategic levels of the game. This volume focuses on the middle game, where territory is truly lost or gained. A player must walk a tightrope between strategy and tactics in this phase while balancing attack and defense.

There is so much going on the board during the middle game that it is genuinely difficult to write a book that teaches more than a single facet of playing the middle game. This can make studying frustrating. What Kim and Soo-hyun have done is written an introduction to the middle game that, while it does not dig deep into the layers of complexity, provides a framework whereby the student can determine where best to focus. In doing so, they have achieved something unique.

The first half of the book focuses on the middle game itself. It opens with a section on invasion and reduction, followed by further material on battle strategies, attack, and defense. The second half discusses life and death. This includes the making of living shapes, the art of killing groups of stones, and handling capturing races. There is also a very good discussion on Ko fighting which goes into surprising detail. As is true of the entire series, the discussion is easy to understand, and examples are plentiful.

I should point out that the apparent organization of the book is a bit deceptive. The nature of the material is such that some serendipity is inevitable. Discussion of principles is mixed in with a lesson about a particular attack or tesuji. As such, this book needs to be read several times to get all of its contents fixed in one's mind. Some might consider this a fault, but I know of almost no other book that sets out to cover what this one does without falling victim to the same problem. For the player who understands that most improvement comes from hard work, this book is a real blessing. Highly recommended.

Broad in principle. Shallow in depth.
The most attractive quality of this book is its ease of understanding. It introduces important strategic concepts of go such as reducing Vs. invading in a way even the most recent beginner can understand.

The pitfall is limited depth. In contrast to books from the Elementary Go Series (In the Beginning, Tesuji, Life and Death, etc.), Kim's Vol. IV - Battle Strategies gives the reader markedly less learning potential.

In my case, after the first reading the ideas had been acquired and there was little worth referring back to. I haven't picked it up since I read it. Whereas, books from the Elementary Go Series continue to challenge me and improve my game even after the 3rd\4th readings, and I expect they will continue to for months to come.

I might recommend Kim's book to the recent beginner looking for a light read. It's also well suited for young players who would have difficulty concentrating on the more dense books of the Elementary Go Series.

Overall, an enjoyable read, a breeze to understand, but lacking in depth when compared to other books available with the same price and topic. In my case, it left something to be desired.

Exactly what a 15~5 Kyu player needs!
I don't know why there are the below negative reviews, but I am currently (April 19, 2009) a 13kyu player and this book had everything I needed to advance my playing level.

Granted, they are not too much in depth, but each chapter provides key examples of the concepts they provide.

The very first chapter, for example, is invasion vs reduction - and it shows you when to invade and when to reduce, and how exactly you accomplish it using a shoulder hit or a cap stone, using examples.

The book is a very light read - which I enjoy very much because it's easier to digest, and the explanations are very clear.

For me, as with the previous 3 books, an easy 5/5 stars.

If you're a mid kyu go player, I think you should really invest in this book!