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

Just in time for the Go Congress, SmartGo Books has released three new books from Hinoki Press, reports SmartGo author Anders Kierulf (l). In Vital Points and Skillful Finesse for Sabaki, Yoda Norimoto 9P takes a look at sabaki, one of the most intriguing techniques in go. “In the hands of accomplished players it can seem like pure sorcery. At times the stones can appear to dance with life. While playing lightly hither and yon, the opponent’s forces can end up ineffective, over-concentrated and misdirected.” (220 pages, $8.99). And in Shuko: The Only Move — volumes 1 & 2 — Fujisawa Shuko looks at joseki, fuseki and the middle game. “The key word here is imagination and Shuko Sensei never tires of repeating that the essential factor in go is to think in creative ways.” Two books from Kiseido are currently in preparation; Modern Master Games: The Dawn of Tournament Go by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich and The Games of Fujisawa Shuko by John Power. The free SmartGo Books app runs on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, and currently contains 13 go books available for in-app purchase. Click here for details.
– photo by Chris Garlock

A new game called Dango combines the rules of go with the mechanics of a card game.  Players use two kinds of cards, representing either go shapes or “actions”.  The go shapes are used to play stones on a goban, while the actions allow (or require) players to do various things, like remove opponent’s stones, lose their turn, or block a move that an opponent wants to make.  Cards can be downloaded and printed out or sets can be purchased from Alexander Dinerchtein.

Go writer Peter Shotwell reports that he recently updated Go! More Than a Game with a brand-new chapter covering recent developments in the go world. New material in Go! — first published in 2003 by Tuttle — includes Computer Go Turns into Supercomputer Go, Surreal Numbers and Combinatorial Game Theory, Go Combinatorics: The Maximum Number of Possible Go Positions, Games and their Length, Asian Professional Go, Two Giant Tibetan Go Boards and A Re-dating and Re-interpretation of the Pre-Han Confucian Go Passages. Because of space limitations, the section on beginner’s use of The 36 Strategies has been dropped from the latest edition, “however they will soon appear in the AGA e-library” Shotwell says, adding that he’s now at work on a review for the EJ of the use of go in Henry Kissinger’s new book On China and Scott Boorman’s The Protracted Game.

For anyone wanting to play go, but without a goban handy, the Instant Go Set could fill in that gap. David Ormerod has announced the free PDF of a go board and stones that can be printed and then cut out for a quick game.   Ormerod says: “When people learn go, it’s important for them to start playing quickly, so they remember what they’ve learned. Of course, you can play go online or against your computer, but not everyone wants to do that. Some people just want to play go with their friends and family. We created the Instant Go Set to give away with our free go course with this in mind. Now we want to make it available to everyone. Anyone who wants to learn go, teach go or just wants a free go set is welcome to download it.”

The author of the BruGo online joseki dictionary has just released an iPad Joseki application, BruGo Joseki.  “The Brugo Joseki iPad version is fast and reliable and contains more sequences than you could ever dream of,” says author Bram Vandenbon.
NOTE: we’re always interested in your thoughts on how go tools work — or don’t; email us at journal@usgo.org

German 5-dan Robert Jasiek has released the second volume of his series on joseki, which focuses on joseki strategy. Jasiek describes the goals for the book in his review: “The book serves the two purposes of teaching joseki strategy in particular and strategy in general. While the majority of examples shows josekis or other corner situations and only some examples illustrate the middle game, almost all principles, concepts and methods are equally applicable during opening and middle game.” The first volume of the three-volume series (with Volume 3 still to be completed) came out in 2009 and looks at the fundamentals of joseki.  Both volumes are 250+ pages with an average of four diagrams per page. Jasiek is well-known in international go circles for his work on go theory and his research into go rules.

SmartGo Books has just released two new iPad/iPhone books, including one by Michael Redmond 9P specifically designed to take advantage of the power of the iPad.  In Patterns of the Sanrensei, Redmond reviews six basic plans for the sanrensei opening, and illustrates the strategy and tactics of these patterns in twenty of his own games.  Written for SmartGo Books and only available for the iPad and iPhone, Patterns of the Sanrensei enables readers for the first time to easily replay the moves in the book’s diagrams, peeling the moves back to see how a given diagram developed, as well as the ability to adjust fonts and layout.  “Whether you play the Sanrensei or need to defend against it, this is the book to read before your next tournament,” says SmartGo Books publisher Anders Kierulf. Click here to check out a PDF sample. Also just released is Yuan Zhou 7d’s How Not to Play Go, published by Slate & Shell. The slim 63-page book “will have a revolutionary impact on any kyu player who reads it,” and “clarifies common kyu level misunderstandings that hold kyu players back from reaching dan level.”  SmartGo Books currently offers ten go books for the iPad and iPhone, with more in the works; they’re all available on the App Store.