Friday May 15, 2015
Ishi Press Archives is reprinting five long out-of-print Ishi Press go books. The reprints include Breakthrough to Shodan by Naoki Miyamoto 9-
dan, Enclosure Josekis by Masaki Takemiya 9-dan, Kato’s Attack and Kill by Masao Kato 9-dan, The Power of the Star-Point, The Sanren-Sei Opening by Shukaku Takagawa 9-dan and All About Thickness, Understanding Moyo and Influence, by Yoshio Ishida 9-dan.
Thursday May 14, 2015
“Reading is the process of imagining tactical sequences of well-chosen moves,” says Robert Jasiek. “Besides strategy, reading determines a 
player’s skill.” “Tactical Reading,” Jasiek’s latest book – his 11th— uses the holistic approach of general theory applicable to all tactical problems. “Powerful principles develop every essential aspect of the theory of tactical reading,” Jasiek says. “Various kinds of simplifications and techniques reduce a large and unmanageable set of choices to the smallest possible number of necessary variations.” The book explains in detail a general method which Jasiek says will lead to “correct and efficient reading.” Application of the theory to 100 problems and their exhaustive answers demonstrates “the best way to distinguish inferior from the interesting moves.” Click here to order from Jasiek or go to Goshop Keima.
Wednesday April 22, 2015
SmartGo’s Go Books for iOS and Macintosh has released three new books. The Go Books app for iPad, iPhone, and Macintosh now offers a total
of 102 interactive books about go, including the three newest ones, two of which are available exclusively on Go Books. Iwamoto Kaoru 9 dan’s “Reductions” is a companion volume to “Invasions,” teaching how to reduce many common formations. It’s also available in print from Slate & Shell. “Just Enough Japanese, Vol. 1” by Richard Hunter provides the most relevant kanji for understanding Japanese go books and is exclusively available in Go Books. In Thomas Redecker’s “Igo Hatsuyōron 120: An Elephant in Slices,” the most difficult go problem is split into 120 simpler problems. Only available in Go Books.
Sunday April 19, 2015
An early beta of SmartGo for the Macintosh is now available. “It’s taken a while,” says author Anders Kierulf, who’s written up the whole history
here. “While this is very much work in progress, I think many go players will already be able to enjoy the GoGoD game collection, joseki and fuseki matching, and SGF editing including the tree view from SmartGo Kifu.” For current users of SmartGo for Windows, this is a free upgrade. For new users, there’s a 15-day free trial, and $39 to buy a license for both Macintosh and Windows version.
Monday April 6, 2015
In-seong Hwang 8D’s American Yunguseng Dojang still has spaces available for students for the online go school’s next session, which starts
April 20. Last session there were 40 participants in six leagues, ranging from 12 kyu to 4 dan. A well-known top player in Europe, In-seong Hwang 8D will teach at this year’s U.S Congress. “His enthusiasm is infectious,” says one student, “his energy and his dedication show why he is such a strong go player.” Click here for In-seong Hwang ‘s recent post in Life in 19×19.
Saturday March 28, 2015
Through May 31, Kiseido is having a sale of all English-language go books; order 3 or 4 books and get free shipping; order 5 books or more and
get 10% off the listed price with free shipping. Kiseido has also obtained two kaya go boards with legs, one with tenchimasa grain and the other with tenmasa grain. Also, Chess and Go: A Comparison, the second in a series of essays by Richard Bozulich, is now available.
Wednesday March 25, 2015
After-school go club teachers in Seattle have often used handouts with go problems, but this year they have started giving each student their own workbook with their name on it. The results were surprising: the beginners really liked the books, sometimes more than playing. One student told me he was going to sign up for the spring session just so that he could finish his workbook! The go clubs are in local elementary schools, and most of the students are in grades 1-3. The Center is mostly using English translations of the “Level Up” books by Lee Jae-Hwan, with some of the “Speed Baduk” workbooks by Kim Sung-Rae as well.
The workbooks have been an education for the teachers as well. The books use a lot of repetition, and progress much more slowly than the typical introductory class at the Seattle Go Center. “Level Up” doesn’t introduce the concept of “two eyes” until the end of the 2nd volume. Apparently, the students like the repetition, as it makes the problems seem easy. But over time, they get a thorough grounding in the fundamentals. The “Level Up” series has 10 volumes; the “Jump Level Up” series follows that.
Finding the beginning volumes of either series in the U.S. can be hard, but the “Level Up” books can be ordered directly from Korea. They are shipped by international surface mail, so it takes a while for them to arrive. One order took about 2 weeks, another order, about 8 weeks. To order books, contact Baduktopia at info@baduktopia.co.kr. More information on Baduktopia can be found on Facebook. Photo/Report by Brian Allen
Sunday March 1, 2015
Kiseido has just released two new books and launched an online series of essays by Richard Bozulich. In The 2014 Ten-Game Match between Gu
Li and Lee Sedol Part Two, Michael Redmond 9P and Rob van Zeijst is the second volume of the historic match between two rivals who have dominated go in the first decade of the 21st century. The contrast in style and strategies “are what make the 
games in this book especially fascinating and give birth to innovative moves and spectacular fights,” says Kiseido.
Richard Bozulich’s The Road Map to Shodan, Volume Four; A Survey of the Basic Tesujis aims at helping readers develop their intuition, which “plays a role in your ability to instantly find the key move that turns the position in your favor” though of course “Of course the player must confirm that it is indeed the required tesuji by the brute-force reading out of the continuation after the tesuji is played.”
Appropriately, The Interplay of Intuition and Brute-Force Analysis in the Game of Go is the first in a series of essays Richard Bozulich is writing on various go topics. If you are interested in receiving them as they appear, send your email address to kiseido@yk.rim.or.jp.
Sunday February 22, 2015
Hinoki Press founder Chris Greene died last Friday. Greene, who had cancer, died at home in Libertyville, Illinois. He is survived by his wife, 
Vicky, and his daughters, Melissa and Elizabeth. “I was lucky enough to work with Chris doing a little copy editing on some of Hinoki’s books, and found him to be a gentleman and a friend to the go community,” said AGA president Andy Okun. “The books he published represent a lasting contribution to the game and its enjoyment.”
A long-time go player, Greene started the go book publishing company in 2006 after retiring from his career as a programmer and published 18 go books before selling it late last year to Go Game Guru (Go Game Guru Buys Hinoki Press, Will Keep Titles in Print 11/12/2014 EJ). “Chris made an immense contribution to the body of English language go literature in a relatively short time,” said Go Game Guru’s David Ormerod. “He was incredibly modest about his achievements and stoic about his illness. When I last spoke to him, on Thursday, he was primarily concerned that the material that he’d worked hard to have translated and published in English remain available to future generations of go players. His motto for Hinoki Press was, ‘always carry a go book in your hand.’ We will miss our friend and fellow go player and will do everything we can to honor his wishes.”
Wednesday February 4, 2015
Macworld senior contributor Kirk McElhearn provides a terrific overview of go apps on his January 31 Improve your game of Go (or just keep 
playing) with this collection of apps column. “If you want to play Go, or want to improve your game, there are a number of excellent iOS apps that can help you learn how to play and try to master the game. Here are the best ones,” writes McElhearn. McElhearn writes The Ask the iTunes Guy column and writes about Macs, music and more on his blog Kirkville.