Beginning Go: Making the Winning Move

by Peter Shotwell, Susan Long

The must-have resource guidebook for those looking to learn the ancient Asian game of GoBeginning Go is a clear, concise and thorough introduction to the intricacies of Go that is perfect for first time players. The straightforward, easy-to-follow instructions and detailed examples make it simple to understand how to play. Players will learn the rules, how to keep score, as well as effective winning strategies and tactics to make the game more competitive and fun.By the time players finish the instructional sections, they'll have all the confidence, skill and techniques they'll need to enjoy playing this fascinating game. What's more, Go's unique handicapping system, which the book explains, allows even absolute beginners to play competitive games with experienced players.

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 15, 2008

Reviews

[Karen Fowler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is so frustrating! It has some good ideas but it is clearly in need of the love of an editor who knows Go! There are several math errors in the examples used when introducing basic concepts to students for the first time. The authors spend pages assuring the reader they will explain the modern scoring systems clearly, but then gloss over them in one paragraph each that roughly summarizes their differences but says nothing about how to use them in your own games. Teaching with the historic counting stones system was a helpful idea but the blatant math error (the author neglects to count the already placed stones when using the Stone Counting system. Thus White's two prisoners are worth nothing) left me to do my own research for hours before realizing "oh the author was just wrong". I'm about halfway thru the book and I've found two more math errors ( in exercise 3.6, during our next chance to practice counting, the author adds 2+2=3 captured stones. There's also a more complex error in the ko example in chapter 5). I don't mean to nitpick, it's just that as a begginer it's extremely frustrating to know that I can't trust the person teaching me to be correct.

In general the book is pretty disorganized as well. Very important concepts (a living group having two eyes) are mentioned offhand and other concepts are left out or forgotten (1. I had no idea that an opponent's stones in your territory were counted as captured in the Japanese Scoring System until late in the book when I was befuddled by his math. 2. He describes how players slide stones around to make territory easier to count but does not inform the reader how to be sure not to affect the score when doing so). The author rarely explains his thoughts, for example saying "White slid along the upper edge with [the last couple moves] . There are more points to be made by doing this than at the bottom." when the board was nearly vertically symmetrical. I wouldn't be surprised if another beginner took that down as a rule to follow regardless of board state.

Overall this book is very frustrating. I really hoped that learning in a book rather than an app would make for a more structured and clear environment but this is not the book to do it with. The authors had some great ideas but everytime I put my head down and try and slog thru I am left more frustrated and less interested in Go.

[Gavin Esdale · Rating 2 out of 5]

The authors clearly have enthusiasm for the game, but I can only assume this same enthusiasm distracted them from the much-needed task of getting a proper editorial go-over for this book (pun not intended).

It has a decent start, but the structure is largely a mess. There are too many instances of concepts being introduced in the midst of explanatory sections of other concepts which the authors acknowledge are important but "will be discussed later". Not exactly scoring points for having a beginner-friendly layout of content here. In addition, the wording for many of the exercises is vague, and the association between many of the diagrams and their descriptive paragraphs is annoyingly unclear. I get that diagram markers aren't fun to include, but they exist for a reason.

The game still intrigues me, but this book doesn't do it many favours.