Blog

Summer Reading

by Anders Kierulf

2015-06-28

Go Books has been growing: now at 105 books, every Go player can find the right books to improve. The backend has changed completely to enable the Mac version (and Android in the future), and books updated with fixed typos or new languages are now automatically synced to your devices.

The improved syncing has also led to some bugs with books not showing up or not opening properly. I’m sorry about that; in most cases, choosing “Register Your Purchases” in the iOS app will fix it. Plesase let me know if you still experience issues. Unfortunately, travel plans keep me from releasing a fixed version until late July. (I’ve made that mistake before.)

Whether you’re heading to the Go Congress or the beach, this is a good time to prepare for upcoming battles.

  • Solve problems: Practice solving problems so you’re ready when they appear on the board. Choices range from “Graded Go Problems for Beginners” to “Gateway to All Marvels: The Xuanxuan Qijing of 1347”.
  • Focus on one pro: By playing through many games of a particular pro, you’ll soak in their style. There’s “Invincible: The Games of Shusaku”, “The Games of Fujisawa Shuko”, and “The Life, Games and Commentaries of Honinbo Shuei”. If you don’t think you’re ready for that level of pro game analysis, start with Yuan Zhou’s “Understanding Pro Games” and his “Master Play” series.
  • Study openings: “The Chinese Opening” and “Patterns of the Sanrensei” will prepare you for specific openings, while joseki books (combined with joseki pattern matching in SmartGo Kifu) will arm you with more choices to achieve a good result in the opening.
  • Improve your technique: You know your weak spots. Getting lost in the middle game? Study “Attack and Defense”. Losing points in the endgame? Study “The Endgame” and “Lee Chang-ho’s Endgame Techniques”. Getting killed when you invade? Study “Reductions“ and “Invasions”. It always pays off to study the fundamentals.

Enjoy your summer!