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

The Go Books app just added “The Basics of Life and Death” by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich. Part of their new “Road Map to Shodan” series, this book first provides a systematic introduction to life and death, with 50 problems, then goes through 177 problems based on positions that often arise in real games. “As such, it is an invaluable reference work that deserves a place in every go players’ library,” says Anders Kierulf. The Go Books app offers 115 interactive go books that you can read on iPad, iPhone or Macintosh.

Although Go Game Guru is closing its go shop and Baduk TV, it plans to keep going, most likely with a focus on writing about go. “We can’t keep up with everything we’ve been trying to do anymore,” reports founder David Ormerud. “The Go Game Guru team has made lasting contributions to the world go community,” said American Go E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock. “Kudos to David, Jing and Younggil for their impressive work over the last six years; we look forward to continuing to work with them after a well-deserved break.”

David G Doshay
I always wondered what the best way is to clean clamshell go stones. So when I saw these used stones for sale (right), I decided it was time to find out. Searching the internet I saw many ideas, and the one I decided to try suggested soaking in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). I used the 3% solution that is available in drug stores (It’s possible to get 10%, but that will do painful damage if it gets on your skin). After a month of soaking the solution was very cloudy so I poured it off, rinsed the stones in tap water and dried them. About half the stones were clean so I put the remaining dirty stones in fresh H2O2 and after two more months they were all clean (left), with no damage from the extended soaking. As a side note, rubbing the clamshell stones did not do much to remove what I assume were tobacco stains. I soaked the slate stones in diluted liquid dish-soap and they were clean in just two weeks; dish soap did not work on the clamshell stones.

SmartGo Books has added several new titles to its collection. Volume 2 of Thomas Redecker’s “Tsume-Go Strategy — Learn to Recognize Vital Points in Go” joins the previously-released Volume 1 to offer over 700 problems based on 47 corner patterns (vol. 1) and 44 side patterns (vol. 2). The problems are analyzed in great detail, providing hints to guide you to the vital shape points. SmartGo Books has also released Redecker’s new book “Workbook: One-Move Life and Death Problems — Basic Tsume-Go Strategy Made Easy,” with over 700 problems ordered by shape. While it’s designed especially for beginners, requiring you to only think a single move ahead, the repetition helps you recognize shapes instantly. For many years, Redecker was the editor of the problem section of the German Go-Journal. He is also the author of several books on Igo Hatsuyōron 120, the most difficult go problem ever. Click here to find more about his books.

Shuko’s Dictionary of Basic Tesuji is one of the most famous Japanese go books, and Slate & Shell has now brought that series to the Go Books app (in English). “Dictionary of Basic Tesuji — Volume 1: Tesuji for Attacking” is the first in the four-volume series; later volumes will cover tesuji for defense, as well as tesuji for the opening, capturing races, and the endgame. The 188 tesuji problems in the first book are analyzed in detail, with over 900 inline diagrams making it easy to visualize all the variations.

The Go Books app (for iPad, iPhone, and Mac) now provides access to 115 high-quality Go books: popular books by major publishers, out-of-print classics, and books available only in Go Books.

Go4Go.net has released an Android-based app that allows users to access the Go4Go database via their smartphones and tablets and the E-Journal is looking for Android users to test and review the app. Email us at journal@usgo.org if interested (testers get free access). The app’s main features include access to the entire Go4Go database, ability to search the database by date, player, tournament, and follow the latest and popular games. Users can also replay games manually or using the auto-play function.