GO: A Complete Introduction to the Game

Wonderful book incorporating both the introductory fundamentals of Go, as well as fascinating insights to its impact on history.

I have tried several beginner books, some better than others, and some really good, however, this book by Cho Chikun trumps them all. The reason is that it has real clear explanation of the concepts needed to play the game while at the same time giving you enough complexity to challenge you to take that next step towards improving. The author teaches the basics of the game using a real game example. This can be challenging, since I have seen cases when it gets a little too complicated and the beginner may feel overwhelmed. This is the main flaw I have seen in the beginner book Go for Beginners by Iwamoto. The reason why it works better in Chikun's case is that he starts nice and slow with a 9x9 game that has very little action, so he can focus first on explaining territory without the complexities on fighting, and then little by little he adds the other elements. He blends well the game examples with explanations on capturing, ko, etc. My favorite beginner book before I read this one was Learn to Play Go: A Master's Guide to the Ultimate Game (Volume I) (Learn to Play Go Series) , and the reason why the Chikun's book is better is that even though both have very clear explanations for the beginner, Chikun goes a little farther. He gives us the simple concept and then little by little introduces more complex ones. Always making sure not to go over the top like Iwamoto does. In between chapters dealing with aspects of the game, the author spends some time to talk about the origins of Go, the status of the game in different countries and continents and other interesting tidbits. These are truly great, even though the parts that have to do with specific professional players are outdated since the book was published in 1997. I really think that this is the best option for beginners out there and that it gives the readers the best bang for the buck. If you are interested in learning to play this wonderful game you can't go wrong with this book.

First Go book I've read. 4 stars only because there are probably 10+ typos in it. But, most of these are not that serious (they're obvious typos); the most serious one is on page 15; Figure 7 and 8 are missing a white stone on the top row; I spent about 5 minutes recounting the territory over and over until I realized that there was a printing error. Otherwise the book is excellent and I really do like how it mixes Go culture/history between each chapter. I actually like the terse writing style and think it suits the introductory style well.

I've read quite a few introductory go books now, so I give this book 5 stars as the best one I have found so far for its stated purpose, which is to introduce the game to a complete beginner. Cho Chikun is one of the strongest go players in the world today. I've found that as in everything else, people who are really good at something are not necessarily the best teachers or writers on the subject, so I liked Cho's ability to talk to someone who is just picking up the stones for the first time and not intimidate them with his godlike go powers. Cho really does cover all the basics, at an introductory level. He recommends starting off with a 9x9 board. Since I am no longer a rank beginner, everything he covered was already pretty basic for me - I didn't even have to think about the handful of problems he gave. I'm past the point where this book could teach me anything. But if I were to choose one single book to give a beginning player, right now it would be this one. Go for Beginners by Kaoru Iwamoto is good too, but I think he packs a little too much into a book the same size as Cho's book, and some of the final chapters may stump a beginning player. The Learn to Play Go series by Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-Hyun is more complete, but that's more of a beginner's course, and a new player might not want to take on several volumes to start with. So, this one gets my highest recommendation for beginning go players. It's short but complete, and between chapters on basic go strategy and tactics, Cho talks about the history of go and go today, including professional go associations, how much money go professionals actually make, the handicap system, and computer go. Since this book was written in 1997, the sections on tournament prizes and computer go are now a bit out of date, but most of Cho says about computer go is still true - there is still no go equivalent to Deep Blue that can beat an expert human player.

I just wrote a review about Kaoru Iwamoto's "Go For Beginners", because I bought both that book and Cho Chikun's in order to learn the basics of the game to re-read Kawabata's "The Master Of Go". There's a difference of level between the two introductions: This one actually works better, because it's less complicated, and although it focuses in the logic of Go, it gives you also a lot of Context: Chapters on History, equipment, the game in Japan, China and Korea, professional tournaments, international associations, Go and computers... In short: demystifies the game, and helps you come close to it before you tackle the real complexity and awe of Go. I still haven't found a partner to play, and although I downloaded "Goban" to play against my computer and it still kicks my derrière every single time I play, with Cho Chikun's book I can learn from defeat and, little by little, my game gets better.

If you are interested in Go, this is a good read! amazon shipped this book to me in 3 days.

Kind seller and fast delivery!

The book is a great introduction but the copy I recieved was a Xerox copy of the orignal book sold to me by Repro books.I paid 1800 rupees and felt so cheated . How are they still doing this even today?

Cho Chikun's little book is an excellent introduction to this game. No prior knowledge is assumed, and he takes the reader through the basic concepts of the game, step by step. There are many diagrams, so you can reproduce the moves. The first chapter includes a very simple game on a 9 x 9 board, to give you an idea of how Go "works". Other chapters introduce us to "Capturing Stones", "Eyes and Living Groups", "Linking up Stones", etc. By the way, you can mark off a section of a full-size board, to play a 9 X 9 game, or you can make your own. Chapter Nine takes us through a nine stone handicap game, played by two amateurs. Chapter Eleven takes us through one of the author's professional games, (on a full size board.) His commentary is very instructive. Finally, inbetween each chapter Cho Chikun has inserted a short essay on various aspects of the game. Thus, one is entitled "The Origins of Go." Others include "The Development of Go in Japan," "Go Around the World," "Go Equipment," etc. My book came from a US seller: delivery was very prompt

This book is incredibly thorough. I have no prior knowledge of the game, but I think this book will help me learn how to play. It feels like the beginning of an adventure. I bought this from Go Game Guru UK and they really went the extra mile in helping me with info about my order. David got back to me really quickly and made it clear that if I needed to ask any more questions he was there to be asked. Excellent customer service!