Key Concepts in Life and Death

by Richard Hunter

This is the fourth volume in Richard Hunter's popular series of thorough studies of particular techniques in the game of Go. It focuses on two tactics: killing groups by creating a dead shape inside (nakade) and the technique called "playing under the stones" (ishi-no-shita), which is useful for both killing and living. As in the other volumes, Hunter begins with the basics in a way that can be followed by beginners, but carries through to a high level of analysis that will be useful to dan players. Most players pay too little attention to these two useful techniques and overlook opportunities to use them in their games.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Richard Hunter is vice president and Gartner Fellow at Gartner, Inc., where his recent work has focused on matters of interest to CIOs. Hunter is the author of "World Without Secrets: Business, Crime and Privacy in the Age of Ubiquitous Computing" (Wiley&Sons, NYC, 2002), “IT Risk: Turning Business Threats Into Competitive Advantage” (Harvard Business Press, Boston, 2006), and “The Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value” (Harvard Business Press, Boston, 2009), the latter two works with co-author George Westerman. He is in much demand as a speaker and advisor to CIOs.
Mr. Hunter was elected a Gartner Fellow in 2003. He holds a bachelor's degree in music from Harvard University. He is a world-class harmonica player who continues to compose and perform; his first book, “Jazz Harp” (Oak Publications, NYC) has been in continuous print since 1980, and is the world’s best-selling method for jazz and rock harmonica players.

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out deceptively simple. As such I dismissed it quickly as being below my level of amateur 5k. However while it starts out easy Hunter gently but in straightforward fashion directs the reader to the issues in an easy to understand way. This is very good!

So the old saw "You can't judge a book by its cover" can also be presented as "you can't judge a book by its first few pages". My opinion of this book went from 'meh' to 'wow' over the period of a few days.

The 'under the stones' technique is an advanced sacrifice tactic, which leaves a weakness [typically a cutting point] in your opponent's shape after he captures your sacrifice.

This book takes it's time and goes over it's concepts slowly and deliberately. It may seem slow but it's good useful material that should be in the fundamentals of any serious go-player's kit.

In summary: a slow and methodical treatment of some cool life-and-death techniques.

[Goulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quite nice and enjoyable go book. Unlike general books of tesuji or life and death problems, this one focuses specifically on under the stones techniques and inside placements, providing some general understanding of the ideas. It starts with familiar basics and progresses through ever more advanced and difficult techniques and problems, clearly explaining things the whole way. Some of the problems are really beautiful and amazing. The later chapters will all be too hard for beginners, but would be quite enjoyable for more experienced players. I'm single-digit kyu and failed to solve many of the later problems, but enjoyed pondering them and finally peeking at the solutions...