Book Review - Learn to Play Go Janice Kim Jeong Soo-hyun

I am going to review the finest introductory book to the game of Go you can find. The book is Learn to Play Go: A Master's Guide to the Ultimate Game. It is written by Janice Kim (3 dan) and Jeong Soo-hyun (9 dan). The language of the book is easier to understand than other introductions to the game I have read. The book is organized as follows:

Part I: Fundamentals

Chapter 1 What is Go?
Chapter 2 Capturing
Chapter 3 Connecting and Cutting
Chapter 4 Where You Can't Play
Chapter 5 Life and Death
Chapter 6 Ko
Chapter 7 Territory
Chapter 8 A Real Game

Part II: Fundamentals

Chapter 9 Capturing Techniques
Chapter 10 Connecting Techniques
Chapter 11 Life and Death Techniques
Chapter 12 Capturing Races
Chapter 13 Ko Fighting
Chapter 14 Ending and Counting

The first part is mostly vocabulary and rules. It explains what the game is and how a winner is decided. The second part focuses more on the basic skills you need to win. There are also interesting notes inset in the material on great go players and the historic significance of the game.

When you finish this book you will not be prepared to play on a 19x19 board against a good opponent. This book is more tactical than strategic in nature. After I read this book I found that I was winning battles and capture races but losing the overall war. I would allow my opponent to build influence and claim territory while I was busy capturing and connecting. Without this book and these techniques you can't advance on to broader strategic goals. The next two books in the series fill this gap. I will review them on a later date.