Tesuji and Anti-Suji of Go

by Robert J. Terry, Sakata Eio

Genres: Go

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2000

Reviews

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this will turn out to be a very useful book for improving my play. I've looked at Fujisawa's dictionary, which is great of course, but does anyone but the highest-level players actually remember any of those patterns? In this book, on the other hand, the sequences are very realistic, often from common josekis!

[KJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even before I finished this book it had more practical impact on my game than any book so far. It's clearer and easier to understand than most Go books are for me. I came away with a better understanding of the nature of moves and what makes one move tesuji and another anti-suji. In my play I have a better sense of where tesuji exist in a particular shape.

[globulon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very mixed bag of stuff. First, at the beginning is a pretty philosophical examination of the definition of tesuji, particularly as the concept relates to the that of suji, but also shape. Secondly, mixed in with the actual sections on various tesuji are these little essays supposedly offering some go wisdom. These were ok, but not very exciting or interesting. One of them has stuck with me since I first read it a few years ago. It is about how one can't get stronger studying "in secret" without actually playing games. Not the deepest thought but I can relate to the temptation it is responding to. As far as the actual tesuji covered, the presentation feels pretty random. Some of them are the same sorts of practical tesuji one finds in Davies book. Some of the these though are aimed at larger objectives like capturing stones (for instance "the stone monument" tesuji which Davies calls "the two stone edge squeeze") while others are geared to one to four point gains that can be claimed later. On the other hand there are tesuji that I felt were more vague or perhaps "strategic" in their aims rather than geared at clear practical results. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the arrangement of them. The style of the writing was fairly engaging and had a little flavor but nothing like a Kageyama book for instance.

[Gus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book when I bought it, but the writing isn't that great, and the organization is sparse at best. To me it seemed that the topic might simply be one that is not easily taught with prose and diagrams. I would suggest that a book of tesuji problems will be vastly more beneficial than this book. In the end I never was able to finish this book, it just didn't flow or seem to help me.