Description

In 1907, a ten-game match between arguably the world’s best two go players of the time – Honinbo Shusai and Nakagawa Senji – began. It was of profound significance for professional go. Game 1 was the first game with commentary published by any of the newspapers or general magazines that had sprung up in Japan in the late 19th century, in imitation of the West. Its success led to almost every significant Japanese newspaper hosting a go column, and then sponsoring tournaments. The business model is the one that continues successfully in Japan to this day.

The sponsoring magazine in this case was “Nihon oyobi Nihonjn” (Japan and the Japanese), indicative of the return to traditional attitudes and pursuits prevalent then in Japan, as fascination with western bling wore off. But it was a novel, not a traditional, approach that was taken. A journalist representing a panel of “duffers” watching the game gave the opinions himself and fellow spectators, and —  not unexpectedly, perhaps — they expressed surprise at many of the masters’ moves. But what was unexpected, when the masters’ very substantial comments (as a conversation between just themselves) were given at the end of each game, was that the masters were also surprising each other with a vast number of their moves. Even modern readers will be astonished at the thought processes revealed. But the comments do also give a uniquely clear insight into what was going on in each game.

This book of a little over 100 pages gives a translation, from the original classical Japanese, of all the comments on each of the six games played. The format deliberately follows the original format, which means no variation diagrams. But that worked in Japan, and even for us promotes the “effortful study” now so lauded in the West as the way to true mastery.

But, quite apart from the undoubted value of the games in understanding and appreciating the thought processes professional go, the match itself deserves rather more than a mere milestone in go history.

The book also reveals a rather unknown and attractive side of Honinbo Shusai, both in his humble comments on the game and in “reminiscences” of his youth when (and, more interestingly, why) he set out to run a missing persons bureau. His evident desire to emulate Pip in Great Expectations and amass a fortune somehow adds to his charm.

Description

Callimachus, an Alexandrian Librarian under Ptolemy II, preferred shorter forms of poetry and expressed his disdain for long epic poems with the Greek phrase ‘mega biblion, mega kakon’ – big book, big bad. But Homer proved him wrong. This book hopes to prove Segoe Kensaku also deserves an epic.

A case can be made for saying that Segoe was the most significant player ever in professional go. For a time, he was probably the strongest player in the world. He nurtured three dominant geniuses from the three main go-playing countries, Japan, China and Korea. He was pivotal in founding and then running the Nihon Ki-in. He kept the Honinbo tournament running during the war despite being a victim of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. After the war, his links with politicians enabled go to grow again and reach new heights. In retirement, he laid the foundations for expanding go worldwide, with personal visits and books. All this was done under the burden of an eye disease which, at the end of a long and eventful life, was probably the main factor in his dramatic suicide — he could no longer play go.

Just to describe his own, richly textured, life would take many words. But to understand it needs even more. After all, his long life spanned the three eras of Meiji, Taisho and Showa, in a culture we in the West are not really familiar with, given the rather different times and land he lived in. Considering also Segoe’s central role in go’s principal organisation, the Nihon Ki-in, a mega book about him seems especially appropriate.

Be warned. First, the book is 466 pages long. Apart from a profusion of images, it is solid text. There are no games. However, as the text describes 100 years of the main activities in go, the games which feature at each point are highlighted in the text, and the corresponding games can all be found in the GoGoD database, so you can play your way through the story.

Second, the book is about the “life and times” of Segoe. While the main focus is obviously on him and his role in all the big events, the text does wander off to explain those times he lived in, so that you can understand why he acted as he did. The result is that very much will be new to you. The proofreader (who is a 4-dan with several decades experience of the go world) said 80% to 90% of the content was new to him (the index alone is over 20 pages). This ranges from how the live-in pupil system worked to how politicians used go players for PR, from the atom-bomb game to playing go in prison, from how go in China and Korea differed in real practice to how Segoe and other pros were startled at how Japanese go was transmogrified in Hawaii, the USA and Europe (not always to their approval!).

A further point is that 2024 is the 100th anniversary of the Nihon Ki-in. Segoe was central to the founding and running of this organisation. Twice, really, because he had to start all over again after the war. And in both cases, apart from finding resources and money, he had to deal with stroppy go players – jealousy, wayward pupils, rebellions, court cases. This book is also a salute to that centenary.

Eminence Grise is about the size of a typical computer manual of today – but about half the price.

Description

It is doorstep time again!

100 Games of Chen Zixian is Book 5 in the Museum of Go Theory project, which looks at the evolution of go theory, mainly in the period 1600 ~ 1900, and mainly in China, which has by far the greatest amount of source material.

The original was published in 1890. Chen was one of the two great guoshous of the 19th century. The other was Zhou Xiaosong. Zhou is sometimes referred to as the Chinese Shuwa (partly because he was born in the same year, 1820). The slightly younger Chen might be considered the Chinese Shusaku in that he too died tragically early. But rather than teacher and pupil, Chen and Zhou were great rivals who respected each other. They beat everyone else down to two stones, and when Chen died, that vacuum took the drive out of Zhou’s go. He still made great contributions to late 18th century go, as he lived a rather long life, and the most notable was a great book of longish commentaries. The original book of Chen’s games, compiled by an amateur fan, lacks commentaries, but does contain over a dozen games with Zhou, other even games (some very famous) with top players , and more than a sprinkling of handicap games, from two to four stones. But the milieu in which Chen and Zhou plied their trade was very different from that of Edo players in Japan. The opportunity has therefore been taken to add text to this new book by describing this milieu of Chen and Zhou and showing how it evolved. The book has thus become something of a fascinating romp through China’s go history. It goes back a long way at times, and scurries down some rabbit holes, but always with the aim has been to show how and why the 19th century scene evolved. Although the main focus is on anecdotes illustrating the lives of Chen and Zhou, the topics ranged over are the history of go in Yangzhou (the equivalent of Edo in Japan) and the history of Chinese grades, from the time of Mencius to Deng Yuanhui’s comprehensive survey of 1895. You will meet the original Mulan, Stinky Toes, a chrysanthemum muncher, Iron Head, a carnivorous monk, a lovesick emperor, and a welshing viceroy, as well as everlasting sorrow, dreams. poetry clocks, broken sandals, 2×2 boards and silversmiths. And more! As a result, the go players of the past really come alive.

The ISBN is 979-8393428563.

Description

The Ryukyuan Islands, now usually just referred to as Okinawa, were once a major trading post on the “Silk Sea Road” midway between China and Japan. Both countries demanded tribute and so the Ryukyuans had to learn to please two masters at once for much of the time. They were also intermediaries between the two cultures, especially when Japan closed itself off to most of the rest of the world in Edo times. Culture in this case included go, which also had a diplomatic role, a role that involved hairpins.

This book recounts what is known about go in old Okinawa (and about Ryukyuan chess), and also covers the Ryukyuan missions to Edo where go was a major theme. There are six mission games, all commented.

There are also 12 ancient games from within Okinawa itself. Half feature a player who has been considered as of pro level. The other half feature people like Master Miyagi. But, as Mr Miyagi said in Karate Kid, “Never trust spiritual leader who cannot dance.”

The ISBN is 979-8395940476 and the book (112 pages, medium format, in colour) is available on the usual Amazon on-demand outlets.

Description

In the early days of modern professional go in Japan, there were few players and the traditional handicap system was still in use. There were, therefore, next to no tournaments of the type we are used to: leagues and knockouts. The usual format was a win & continue. Because of the levelling-up implied in using handicaps, it was difficult to win a long sequence of games – no wins over weakies to pad out the sequence. Winning even five games in a row was quite rare, and when it happened it was marked with a special prize. It can be viewed rather like winning five games in a row in a 32-player knockout – except that it was somewhat harder. In a knockout, you can guarantee from its inexorable process that someone will end up with a five-star performance. But in a win & continue, when a player on 4 wins lost a game, the whole process had to start of all over again. But in 1911, Kita Fumiko did achieve the magic five. In effect, she won the equivalent of a tough modern title-match. On top of that, she did it by beating only men, and elite players at that. She was the world’s first really strong professional go player. In addition, she played a pivotal role in go history, through easing the formation of the Nihon Ki-in and looking after Go Seigen. She also had a host of pupil, One of those is still playing, Mrs Sugucihi Kazuko. Kita remains the only woman to be inducted into go’s Hall of Fame. This book describes her annus mirabilis, with commentaries on five of her games by the top players of the age, including Honinbo Shusai (whom she defeated in the W&C). It is an in-depth, illustrated account of Kita’s go life, style and influence, with ample biographical details of her opponents and commentators. There is a special reason for this book. A reason which also explains why it is a small (i.e. very affordable) book. My hope is that it will give easy access to a significant role model for female players in the west. She’s a great role model for go players in general. It is available on-demand in Amazon. ISBN 979-8390858912.

Description

Brush, Ink, Go is the fourth book in our project entitled the Museum of Go Theory. It is available on Amazon as an on-demand edition.

It is a translation of Ji Xinxue’s Yi Mo 弈墨 which was published in China in 1662. The story behind the title is too complex to describe here, but it was the first significant book of go commentaries. Significant in various ways: it was large (100 games), it covered all the best players of the age (26 are represented here), and the commentaries, though still on the short side, were insightful and more expansive than ever before. Go theory thus became identifiable in ways it had never been before.

A further major attribute is that the games were selected, from some 600, by a commentator who was a master player himself, Ji Xinxue. It is apparent that a major criterion in the selection was entertainment value. Kos, sekis, capturing races and sacrifices abound, and the quality matches the quantity. But, in addition, the compiler seemed to want to illustrate how go theory had evolved in his day from humbler beginnings. Both the kaleidoscopic games and the insightful comments support that. Whereas just a short time before, books concentrated almost entirely on corner openings, the games here take in the entire sweep of the board.

The book was published a decade after Huang Longshi’s birth, and so does not feature him, but opponents Sheng Dayou  and Zhou Donghou do appear. This will provide a solid base once the MGT project gets round to publishing something on Huang. Other famous names include Guo Bailing and  Zhou “Lazybones” Lanyu. The other players may not be as familiar but the games show they merit their places.

Like other books so far in this series, Brush, Ink, Go far exceeds anything the Japanese had to offer at the time. Indeed, it was centuries ahead of Japanese equivalents.

This edition of almost 300 pages is presented both in the original classical Chinese and in English. Extensive notes on the players and the terminology are provided.

The title is also explained. As a clue, it harks back to the invention of the umbrella!

Description

Go Seigen was probably the greatest go player of the 20th century. As a Chinese player brought to live in Japan prior to World War II, when the game of go was extensively used as a diplomatic tool by Japanese politicians, he was also bound up in many historical events. John Fairbairn has already chronicled several of the famous ten-game matches between Go and the best players the Japanese could muster. The first was “Kamakura,” played during the war. In each book, as also here, all the match games are given with long commentaries based on multiple professional sources. In addition, the background is given in detail, including extensive biographical details. Significant new details of Go’s life are interwoven with the commentaries. For his match opponent, however, Iwamoto Kaoru, extensive space has been devoted to biographical details of a player who has special significance in the West. Iwamoto left the game of go for a while in the 1930s to try to become a coffee farmer in Brazil. He (and his wife) suffered many great hardships, which were not to end when he returned to Japan, because he was one of the players in the famous Atom Bomb Game in 1945. The present ten-game match took place in 1948, with post-war woes still affecting Japan. Go Seigen, too, had had a fraught time up to and through the war, being accused of being a traitor in China and suffering racist attacks in Japan. During the war itself he was fire-bombed out of his house. For a time after the war, in mental turmoil, he too left go for a while, taking up with a new religion. Like Iwamoto, he too was a survivor, and the present match was a first step on the road to recovery. Since no-one could be sure this would happen, a ‘secret’ game was arranged before the match, to ensure both players could perform as hoped. That game, revealed only in 1980,  is given here, too, with commentary.   Also included is a commented three-game match between Go and Iwamoto several years later.

Description

Description

The ten-game match between the Chinese-born Go Seigen and his Japanese rival (and friend) Kitani Minoru is perhaps the most famous match in all of go history. Apart from being a clash to determine who was the world’s best player, it took place during the early days of World War II following a long period of tension and fighting between China and Japan. The match had great political significance.

This book describes the match in full detail. The scene is set, the players’ biographies prior to the match are given in depth, and every game is fully commented, based entirely on a wealth of professional opinions (quite often conflicting!), including the players’ own, of course. One game alone is based on over 50 pro commentaries.

The book was originally published in 2009 and proved extremely popular. With changes in the book market, however, the original publishers, Slate & Shell in the USA, decided to withdraw from the paper-publishing scene, and the original version went out of print, despite a re-print. Following very many requests, the author has at last decided to issue the present on-demand version in a slightly different format, with a few updates (e.g. Go’s death).

The new Go Wisdom  format follows his other recent books in being designed to tap into the latest theories on the best ways to study, in particular the concept of ‘effortful practice.’ This means the variation diagrams of the original version have been largely replaced by text that requires the reader to play through the variations on a board, absorbing the flow into one’s intuition, and learning to visualise. This is supplemented by a large Go Wisdom appendix, which can be likened to a  go concepts reference library. The idea is that concepts the reader wonders about, even those not mentioned directly in  the games, can be consulted and read about in depth. Moreover, all occurrences of each commented concept are fully indexed and marry up with the indexed occurrences in all other Go Wisdom books, so that the reader can study difficult concepts such as thickness and momentum, or probes and psychology, over a wide range of players and styles with a host of specific examples in the games themselves.

Apart from the changes required for Go Wisdom (which include also the use of colour), the text is virtually the same as in the original version. But changes have also been made in the diagrams and some illustrations, and of course the large Go Wisdom appendix itself has been added.

Description

Go Seigen (1914 ~ 2014) has a reputation, rightly, of being a go genius. Almost all commentaries on his games, however, relate to the times when he was in the ascendant. Times when he made very few mistakes. This creates a slightly warped view of his long career. He was not so dominant when he began that career. Indeed, he made a plethora of mistakes then. But that is not to diminish him. Seeing the kind of mistakes he made and how he learned to overcome them adds richly to a true appreciation of his enormous talent.

Among the very first games arranged for Go when he arrived in Japan at the age of 14 in October 1928 was a series of 13 games in which Go (Wu in Chinese) was likened to Sun Zi, the “Art of War” military genius who helped the kingdom of Wu in their rivalry with the kingdom of Yue. His opponents. a different one in each game but all the rising stars of the Japanese go scene, were the archers of Yue.

In all these games, now very rarely seen, Go, as a lowly 3-dan, took Black. In fact, he had Black in nearly all his games until 1933. We therefore get to see how Go mastered the art of having first move in no-komi games. Much of the time he followed Honinbo Shusaku, whose games he studied in depth in China. But we also see surprising new ideas clearly based on his equally avid study of the old Chinese masters.

All the games are given here with commentaries in Go Wisdom format, based on comments from pros of the time, including the players themselves. Anecdotal biographies are given for each opponent. A full, indexed Go Wisdom appendix is included, so that the reader can study the games to a depth well beyond that of the commentaries themselves, and also use the concept data in conjunction with data in other Go Wisdom books.

Description

The third book in the series on the evolution of go theory as a ‘medieval tour’ through a museum is now available on Amazon: “Wizardry from the Stone Chamber” 石室仙机.

The core period being covered is 1600 to 1900, and this book, dated to circa 1590, can be regarded as the foundation book in the series, providing the benchmark from which the evolution of theory shown in other books can be considered to have begun.
This book is from the late Ming. If you can’t quite afford a Ming vase for your house, you can at least have a Ming book on the coffee table. As is typical of most go books of that period, it was an anthology made up largely of older material, which I suppose in itself makes it fascinating. This includes the oldest known games, old texts, and a huge treasure house of openings (useful for studying the game commentaries in other books. There are novelties such as the very old games that suggest very strongly that sunjang baduk came from China. There is also a large selection of exquisite life & death problems that will delight the antiquarian. But there is clearly also much of what was then contemporary material, including the first glimmerings of the commentator’s art, making this an ideal book (a relatively large one of over 220 pages) to understand how go theory took off soon after in the Qing period.
Part of the length is explained by the translator’s addition of extensive notes, ranging from the genesis of the book and details of the author to explanations of the problem names.

Description

The Evergreen Game Records (不古编) of 1682 is the second book in the Museum of Go Theory series, but is the first truly mature go commentary manual. It is one of the earliest commentary books anyway, but the comments here are by a genuine Chinese master of the game, Wu Ruizheng, and his comments cover all aspects of the game with a rich technical lexicon, encompassing not just moves but concepts.
We can see from this book that Chinese masters as early as the start of the Qing era were aware not just of concepts that we take for granted now, but of others that stemmed from group tax and so are either not known now or which now have a different slant. Remarkably, these ‘new’ concepts can show the way to tease out the concepts that AI programs apparently use but cannot describe.
Evergreen Game Records was also the book to introduce the genius Huang Longshi to a wider public. But all the 66 games here are by Wu’s contemporaries, the top masters of late Ming and early Qing.
Offered here is a complete translation, also with the original text, and contains extensive additional notes on the vocabulary and thus on the theory of old Chinese go. Biographical notes on the players are also added.
The ethos behind the Museum series is to offer something of a ‘medieval tour’ in which the various masters and their milieu are brought to life, using above all their own words.

Description

Game Records from Evening Fragrance Pavilion (1754).

A translation of the commentaries of 15 games by Cheng Lanru, one of the Four Great Masters of the 18th century in China and much admired by Hayashi Genbi in Japan. With extra games and extensive notes on old Chinese go and its players. The first book in a planned series, “Museum of Go Theory”, designed to show how go theory evolved in China, especially in the period 1600-1900.

Description

The Incident Room: Transgressions on and off the go board

This is a collection of incidents from the game of go, presented as bite-sized accounts suitable for bedtime reading, that relate to rules transgressions, rules disputes, rules etiquette, go diplomacy, and sometimes just plain daftness. For a game that is widely touted as having the simplest of rules, there is a remarkable variety of such incidents. This is not a complete catalogue, but certainly captures the scale and scope of the problems. The main intention, apart from entertainment, has been to try to capture the first or best examples of each oddity, or to point up cases where different interpretations or adjudications are used in the principal countries where professional go is played.

Description

The First Teenage Meijin: At the end of 2019, Shibano Toramaru became the first teenage player to win a major title in the Japanese go world. When he became the new Meijin, it was almost as if the story of the manga Hikaru no Go had come true.

This book tells the story of the title match against Cho U. The first four games are presented with traditional commentaries, but the momentous fifth game – regarded as being of unusually high quality – combines tradition with AI analysis, which confirms the quality.

The coverage of the title match is preceded by a substantial account of the history of the Meijin title. The games themselves are also given with their atmospheric content and biographical details.

An index to topics in the Go Wisdom theory corpus presented in earlier books is also given.

Description

Games of Shuei: with Commentaries – now available as print-on-demand via Kindle Direct Publishing or Amazon. 133 commented games involving the Meijin of Meijins, Honinbo Shuei. This is a paper edition of a book previously issued as an e-book, but now has many more games, is about 50% larger, and (as with Genjo-Chitoku) comes in our new fully indexed Go Wisdom format, a new colour enhaced format designed to encourage, facilitate and improve private study. 538 pages.

Description

The Meijin (or Master) as long been the most prestigious title in Japan for the best players of the oriental game of go. Only one Meijin at a time was allowed. Two of the very best players were Honinbo Genjo and Yasui Chitoku. Neither was Meijin. The reason was that they were at their peak in the same era, the early 19th century, which is often referred to as the Golden Age of go in Japan. They were rivals, but were also friends. Many of their games survive and each one is treasured. A major part of the reason is that both had contrasting styles – one favouring early territory then digging in, the other favouring early strength and gaining territory, or reducing the opponent’s, by later fighting. This, along with the very high standard of play, has made their games almost a standard text-book for students of the game. The present book collects all their 80-odd games with each other – several being recent finds – and gives detailed commentaries based on a combination of the very many professional commentaries that these games have attracted over two centuries.

Description

Honinbo Shuei (1852~1907) is the go player that masters of the calibre even of Go Seigen and Takagawa Kaku professed to admire the most. Many consider him the Meijin of Meijins, and in his late years no-one could
play without a handicap against him. Yet he achieved his dominance only in middle age, having several times disappeared from the mainstream go world for months on end. He lived at a time of enormous upheaval and uncertainty in the Japanese go world, seeing tragedy strike his father, his brother and his mentor. His own life was marred by a debilitating disease. But he compounded his problems by choosing to struggle – with some success – to uphold the Honinbo name and the game’s traditions in the brave new world represented by the rival Hoensha organisation. This book is a ground-breaking, detailed biography of Shuei set within the background of the tumultuous times he lived through. It is sympathetic but candid.

Description

The Honinbo Tournament is go’s oldest annual tournament. By trial and error it set the standards for every tournament since. This book describes in detail how it came about, and goes carefully through each of the early years in the 1940s and 1950s, and each year’s changes. The games of each title match up to and including Term 6 are given with rich commentaries (32 games), showcasing also the most famous players and
anecdotes featured in the highest level of go.

Description

Today We Have a Splendid Feast The great Inoue Inseki Meijin, the 17th century author of the famously hard-to-impossible problems of the Igo Hatsuyoron, produced other, easier tsume-go works. One was the Yoshin Teiki, most of which is now lost. But the portion that survives gives a fascinating insight into how he worked on his problems and (presumably) taught his pupils. The surviving sections, given here in full, are eminently suitable for beginners, but even strong players can learn amply from the way the Meijin used his mind, and be severely challenged by the hardest problems.

Description

New Ways in Go is a complete translation of Honinbo Shuho’s 1882 classic, covering handicap openings, even-game openings and commentaries on his games with Shuwa and Shusaku.

Description

Unfinished Symphony gives extensive commentaries on the shortened ten-game match between Go Seigen and Karigane Junichi, with comprehensive historical background. This continues the series of Go Seigen’s matches that was begun in paper form by Slate & Shell.

Description

The original version of The Life, Games and Commentaries of Honinbo Shuei was published as a Kindle book
over six separate volumes, but is now available as a SmartGo book with interactive game replay.

Description

The 1347 Chinese go classic Xuanxuan Qijing, or Gengen Gokyo by its Japanese name, is the most significant go book ever produced. It has become the foundation for virtually every problem book since. Gateway to All Marvels brings together every problem and every variant from perhaps every subsequent edition, and discusses how the almost 500 problems and their solutions have evolved and varied.

Description

inoue Genan Inseki is a short biography of Honinbo Jowa’s main
rival and one of the most interesting characters in the go world.

Description

This is a flip book – two books in one. The first is Jowa’s Three Brilliances: Honinbo Jowa Plays Akaboshi Intetsu. This game is commonly known as the ‘blood vomiting’ game, but it is Jowa’s three brilliant moves that make it famous. The second is The Insha Game: Honinbo Shusai versus Karigane Junichi. It is the
first game of the pivotal match between the newly established Nihon Ki-in and the rival professional organization the Kiseisha. Not currently in print owing to Slate & Shell’s decision to end paper production of books.

Description

Old Fuseki vs. New Fuseki describes both the evolution of New Fuseki and also the 1933 game between Honinbo Shusai and Go Seigen.

Description

The start of a series on famous games, intended also as a way of filling in gaps in the history of 20th century go. The Meijin’s Retirement Game covers in depth the famous game between Honinbo Shusai and Kitani Minoru. Not currently in print owing to Slate & Shell’s decision to end paper production of books.

Description

A massive book, 9-dan Showdown covers no fewer than three ten-game matches between Go Seigen and Fujisawa Kuranosuke, the first two 9-dans in history. A book of excerpts was also published by SmartGo as an e-book. Complete book not currently in print owing to Slate & Shell’s decision to end paper production of books.

Description

Final Summit was the second in the series on all Go Seigen’s ten-game matches, of which Kamakura was the first volume. It features his last match, against Takagawa Kaku. Not currently in print owing to Slate & Shell’s decision to end paper production of books.

Description

The Go Consultants describes one of the famous consulation games
of the 1930s in which Go Seigen and Kitani Minoru, stars of New Fuseki, took
on the top players of the old order, their teachers Suzuki Tamejiro and
Segoe Kensaku in a consultation game. The discussions of the two teams were
recorded and provide a unique insight into how professionals think.

Description

The first book to appear under the strapline “From the GoGoD Archives”,
The Go Companion is a selection of popular material from our New In
Go column combined with newly written material (about 60%) in similar vein,
to present a 300-page wide-ranging survey of go culture and history. Not
currently in print owing to Slate & Shell’s decision to end paper
production of books.