Learn To Play Go, Volume II: The Way of the Moving Horse

Learn to Play Go #2

by Janice Kim, Jeong Soo-Hyun, A.B. Lee (Illustrator)

Fundamentals of good play. Teaches you how to choose the right moves according to the Korean school's strength vs. speed model. Second in a series that takes you, step by step, all the way to the master levels. ''By far the clearest introduction yet published in English.'' - Games Magazine

Genres: Go, Nonfiction, Games, Reference, Textbooks, How To, Gaming

166 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 1995

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not a good go player, I’m at a beginner level. This is the book for me. It’s just above the absolute basics of how the game is played and makes it easy to understand certain basic moves and concepts. These are the building blocks you need to build your knowledge of the game of go on.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

So first of all - my go game really sucks. I say that I "play go" and that I learned to play a long time ago, but it's been this occasional thing that I get interested in every now and then, and then stop playing for years and years. Like writing, martial arts, and various other activities I have pursued off and on for many years, it depresses me sometimes when I consider how good I'd be if I had actually stuck with it way back when I first got interested, and how unlikely I am to ever really be good now. :(

Okay, enough whining. So, aging, past-my-prime me has decided I want to actually become a halfway decent go player. (Maybe I'll resume chess too...) The Way of the Moving Horse is the second volume in Hyun and Kim's "Learn to Play Go" series. It's meant for beginners. Volume I was for the absolute novice who needs to be taught everything from scratch. In volume II, we actually learn some elementary go strategy and tactics, including bases, jumps, extensions, attachments, invasions, reductions, life and death, eyes, ko threats, and contact fighting.

None of this was new to me, but it was good review. I could usually spot the lesson being illustrated and what the right answer was from looking at the diagram even before reading the text, so maybe there is hope for me. On the other hand, I only scored 75% on the quiz at the end of the book. So I still suck.

But, I am pleased to say that after reading volumes I and II and playing for a week or so, I now almost always beat Many Faces of Go on its "Idiot" setting (18-kyu). Once I am sure I'm good enough that it's no longer a challenge for me at all, I'll spring for the full version, which supposedly can play up to the 1-dan level. I can also beat the BeginnerBots on KGS. Finding human players for ranked games at the crappy kyu rank KGS has currently assigned me isn't always easy.

This series is first of all a very nicely illustrated set of books, with clear diagrams and equally clear step-by-step explanations. For me (the perpetual newbie) the first two books have been concise and elegant and like having a patient tutor walking me through the basics.

The section on "Internet go," written in 1995, might not be quite as helpful, though actually, most of the resources listed are still around, even if no one really uses Usenet anymore and most folks no longer need to be told what the World Wide Web is.

Anyway, on to the next volume. Supposedly all five volumes (plus playing experience) will be able to take you up to about 10-12 kyu. We'll see!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favourite of the series so far; I already knew most of the content in Book 1, but here Kim covers the haengma (standard moves), ko fights and threats, capturing races, life and death (throw-ins, vital points), endgame plays, and myriad tactics in attack and defence (pincers, capping, shoulder-hits, pinning, invasion, reduction, passing under, iron pillars, ladder breakers, peeps, spikes).

These are the building-block tactics that strengthen your game immensely, preventing you from being wiped out and giving you a guide to what you should be looking for and trying.

The knowledge is solid and directly applicable; I tangibly improved as I progressed through the book.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished and immediately ordered part 3 of this series.

Perhaps I should give it 5 stars, given that it is the best book on Go that I have read, but perhaps there are others even better that I don't know about..
I hesitate about the fifth star because I did think that some of the examples could perhaps have been explained better, they weren't clear to me immediately, only when I tried to follow them myself with a board and stones, so that I could see the consequences that were perhaps obvious to the writer, but not (immediately) to me.

Anyway, I think this book is really very helpful in outlining the basic ideas of Go that go beyond just the rules. Most resources on Go are either too simple or way too complicated, and this one really fits the gap for me.

It covers all three parts of the game: the opening, middle and end.

I really liked the imaginative descriptions (like how some stones are running like a horse, which gave the book its title, I think).
Also some funny sentences that make me think, not just about the game, but about life in general (but that may be me.. )

I enjoy the game much more now, because I can see better why a certain move didn't work, or why all of a sudden my opponent floods my territory. Perhaps in the near future I will even be able to prevent this :-)

Looking forward to the next book with the even more interesting 'dragon' in the title: The Dragon Style

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy successor to the first installment, this volume expands upon previous concepts while also building upon that foundation with additional topics and more detailed examples. There is also a twenty-five question exam at the end of the book to see how much the reader is really retaining. I scored halfway between 'average' and 'good', which is honestly a bit worse than I thought I would perform; emphasizing how important it is to augment these books with actual gameplay, problems, and other practice materials. On to volume three!

[Adrian Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent continuation of Kim's first book in the "Learn to Play Go" series. Here, the fundamentals from the first book are elaborated on and certain principles of sound play are reinforced.

The more I learn about Go the more I realize it is a game like no other I've played. Janice Kim refers to it as a martial art and I think that's appropriate. It certainly has a spiritual aspect like none I've seen before in a board game.

[Bryce Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like reading go books every once in a while even though I don't play. This one was presented really nicely and conceptually. A couple times it did do the thing many beginner books do, which is "and if black plays there, the white shape is dead" when they really mean "the white shape is dead if black plays perfectly for the next seven moves which is unlikely if you are a beginner."

Anyway still nice.

[Mish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good follow up from book 1. Still covering basic concepts and things beginners should know.

I enjoyed the quiz section. It’s a good way to know if you’re absorbing the information and understanding the concepts.

I got a score of 76; it made me realise that I’m a little too aggressive in the way I want to play and don’t think out the full sequence. It made me think more about what moves I want to make and what their consequences will be.

[Valentyn Danylchuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This part offers tiny incremental improvements in several aspects of the game. Some may be unimpressed, but I think this is a perfectly efficient approach. If you start with the first volume, this is the perfect follow-up. If you played before, you may skip over some parts, but there is a chance you may still fill in some gaps in the basics, resulting in more confidence and cleaner games.

[Iago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro de estrategia con la información muy bien expuesta, y repleta de ejemplos. No se mete en conceptos estratégicos amplios, sino que se centra en problemas locales simples y que aparecen con relativa frecuencia en el juego. Lo que más me ha servido es la parte de las carreras de libertades, muestra principios muy sencillos y de gran utilidad en la lucha de contacto.

[eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a long time I said I’m playing go and know “how the basics”.
Didn’t understand why I don’t progress.
After reading that book, I learned tons, and discovers how much I don’t know.

It helped me finely to understand the basics in a real fun way and get better in my games :) .
Thank you for this amazing book!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice introduction to the opening, mid-game, and end-game on 19x19 boards. Covers invasions and reductions, attacking and defending, ko fights, and the shapes needed for forming bases. Instead of teaching opening joseki, the authors show how to secure corners and sides from 1st principles. Volumes I and II together cover the basics of the game.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

good sequel to the first book, going more into strategy rather that simply explaining the rules, i enjoy the explanation of general principles in the form of proverbs, such as 'respond to attachment with hane', which are easy to remember

[John Culpepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very instructional!

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad, but sometimes makes assumptions that I don’t think I’m ready to assume in my playing. Comprehensive on playing 19x19, but could use a few more joseki.

[Devin Hubbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great bridge between absolute basic rules to tools that can be used in tsumego and other problem books.

[Daniel Laufer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series was a fantastic bringing-up-to-speed for the game of Go.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good continuation to Volume 1.

In this volume the authors focus on expanding a bit on the basic concepts presented in the previous book. They continue to do so in a clear fashion and with plenty of diagrams so we can follow along without need of a board. First they talk about the opening strategy and give clear rules as to how to approach this face of the game. These concepts should help guide the beginner, but as soon as you have played for a couple of months you are going to need more than this. The enclosures and approaches explanation is good, but once again really simplified. After that they explain the concept of making a base, which is key when playing go, followed by the different types of connections and instructions on when to use each type. The handling of the concept of invasions and reductions is merely as an introduction of these existing, and not much else, which is not off base when addressing beginners.

The sections on how to attack and defend in the second part are the most useful part of this book. Understanding that attacking is not only about killing the enemy groups and protecting ones weaknesses are key notions that when understood make a huge difference in playing strength. There is a section on capturing races, which is pretty basic. If you want an excellent resource for this topic, you would be best served by looking up The Second Book of Go (Beginner and Elementary Go Books). I liked the way in which they explained ko fights, focusing on not being afraid of them and just presenting the importance of understanding ko threats. In the life and death section there is a presentation of the most common shapes and of which ones are alive, dead or conditionally alive. The chapter on contact fighting is the other part of this book that I thought was excellent and extremely useful for beginners. Finally, the endgame section goes over a couple of the most common situations and nothing else, so once again after playing for a month or two, the beginner player will need to look for another reference material on this.

As long as you are aware of the strengths of this book, it should be a very good guide for you. The main strength is that the material is presented in a very gentle fashion, but this also means that there are a lot of missing parts that other beginner books address. Therefore, your satisfaction with this volume will depend on whether you are looking for a easy to follow guide or a more challenging reference material.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Go player who knew the rules and not much else before opening this book, I found Kim's work extremely valuable. I came out with a working understanding of the purpose and structure of Go's opening, midgame, and endgame, as well as what kind of moves achieve the objectives of each phase. Especially helpful was the titular Way of the Moving Horse: thinking about positions in terms of the connections between stones. This book certainly did not enable me, a novice, to follow every move of a subtle game between 5-dan players, but it helped me see the contours: what each side was driving at and how they played to achieve it. I finally feel like I'm gaining the foundation I need to learn Go by playing Go, something hard to do without instruction.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think this is my second or third time reading this book. I think it is starting to sink in. Easy to follow, not as easy as book 1 in the series, but really book 1 is just a glossed over "how to play go" with just a bit more than the basic rules.

I wonder if the fact that they are just slowly expanding the vocabulary of go terms will happer me if I decided to branch out to other book series.

Just finishing up this book and book 1 from the graded go problems for beginners. Next up will be book 3 of LTPG series and book 2 of GGPFB.

[Damon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volumn two of Janice Kim's series on learning Go is her best book. She takes the lessons she taught in her first book and delves deeper into the game. She talks about different types of moves, and their strengths and weaknesses, such as the Knight's move, Horse Jump, Tiger's Jaw, Large Knight's move, shoulder hit, one space jumps, two space and three space jumps. She also talks more about capturing stones, giving life, ko's, fighting Ko's, and the endgame.

[globulon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is easy to read, there are lots of diagrams, and some cool pictures. My main problem with it is that its overall level is quite simple and so it isn't likely to remain useful to the reader for very long. It's kind of surpising in this way, because it is actually the second volume in a series. (I haven't looked at others.) Might be useful for a club, library, or someone who is likely to be introducing the game to new players.

[Coryke · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the instruction is very clear, there is not a lot of depth to this book. Several chapters are only four pages or so in length. Considering the large (and very nice) diagrams on each page, this does not leave much room for text. I certainly think this is a good book, but wish that this series had fewer books and more depth per book.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the time I read this book, I was just learning the fundamentals of Go. This was an entertaining book, as well as an educational book on the game. After reading it my game improved substantially. The author knows how to teach Go, and makes it fun to learn.

[cook777]

Back when I read this book it was a fascination book. (first go book I ever read.) Back then I didn't know much past the rules of the game, now of course this book feels like common sense to me. Its really is a great book for its attended audience.

[Malcolm Bastien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid book. Delivered a bunch of useful information.

By the end of this book there were only a few instances where I didn't follow the author's logic or understand why a "good play" was good. Overall though, very satisfied.

[LB Deyo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't learn to play Go.

[Stefano · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Way of the Moving Horse (Learn to Play Go, Volume II) (Learn to Play Go Ser) by Janice Kim (1995)

[Steve]

GO

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good beyond-the-basics book. I still use a lot of the strategies I learned from reading this.