American Go E-Journal » Tools: books, software & hardware

Kiseido has just released “Mastering the Basics, Volume Nine, An Encyclopedia of Go Principles,” by Richard Bozulich. Bozulich’s purpose is nothing less than “bring(ing) together all the strategic and tactical principles of go,” collecting 100 principles, supplemented with examples. Kiseido has also posted fascinating essays by Bozulich, like “Einstein and Go,” the story of Edward Lasker’s attempt to interest Albert Einstein in go. While you’re at Kiseido’s site, check out their go equipment site as well as their “Luxury Go Equipment Bargains“.

An artificial intelligence machine called Giraffe that has taught itself to play chess by evaluating positions much more like humans and in an entirely different way to conventional chess engines may well be the future of AI, according to a recent report in the MIT Technology Review. “Straight out of the box, the new machine plays at the same level as the best conventional chess engines, many of which have been fine-tuned over many years,” the report says. The technology behind the new machine — developed by Matthew Lai (left) at Imperial College London –is a neural network that consists of several layers of nodes that are connected in a way that change as the system is trained. “Lai says it should be straightforward to apply the same approach to other games,” the report concludes. “One that stands out is the traditional Chinese game of Go, where humans still hold an impressive advantage over their silicon competitors. Perhaps Lai could have a crack at that next.”
Thanks to Fred D. Baldwin for passing this along.

Responding to popular demand, Slate and Shell has just published a second volume of “Deep Thought: Extremely Thoroughly Commented Pro Games,” by popular author Yuan Zhou. It contains three games with virtually every move explained and almost every diagram showing only one new move. “Unlike normal problem books, the ‘problems’ here are not limited to local situations,” says Slate and Shell publisher Bill Cobb. “You must always keep in mind the whole board. Read this way, the books provide an excellent study of opening, middle game, life and death, and endgame problems, considered in terms of what is going on elsewhere in the game.” Sample pages can be seen on the web site. Available now at a special introductory price.

There’s still time to sign up for Guo Juan 5P’s online group class, which starts on September 19. The 135 euro fee cover eight 90-minute classes and seven weeks of full access to Guo’s pro lecture site and training system. “Meet friends, have fun and learn from pro teachers,” says Guo. In addition to Guo, teachers include YoungSun Yoon 8P, Jennie Shen 2P and Mingjiu Jiang 7P.

Ishi Press Archives recently announced the release of a second group of four out-of-print Ishi Press go books. The reprints are available through Amazon and include The Great Joseki Debates by Honda Kunihisa, The 3-3 point: Modern Opening Theory by by Cho Chikun, All About Life and Death Vol. 1 by Cho Chikun and All About Life and Death Vol. 2 by Cho Chikun.

With the latest release of GoClubsOnline attendees can now pay their tournament or event fees via PayPal. Look for payments due and PayPal prompts during online registration for a tournament or event to see if this convenient option is offered by organizers. When PayPal is offered by the hosting club and payments are due, attendees can pay either via PayPal or with a credit card. GoClubsOnline (GCOL) doesn’t handle any of these funds and organizers can manage their PayPal account completely independently. “Organizers can set whatever fees they wish to charge, especially if they want to supplement a prize pool!” says GCOL’s Robert Cordingley.  “Club organizers can separately and simply set up a club PayPal account, then include the account name in the Payment Method section of a tournament or event profile and it’s good to go.”