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Rating: 
Summary: Inside the Mind of the Best.
Review: Go Seigen is easily the best Go player of the 20th Century. Born Wu Qingyuan in Fujian province (1914). Go's father taught him the game when he was eight and he took of like a rocket. At the age of 11 he was winning against most of China's top players. Finally Go, the national champion of China in 1927, was offered the chance to play and study in Japan. His career in Japan was every bit as spectacular. In 1932 he reached 5-dan ranking. This was a period of some turmoil in Go. Many players, Go included, where trying new openings and breaking with tradition. In Japan, where the traditions around the game are intense this caused a great deal of argument. By the war, Go Seigen was and 8-dan, and already the most formidable player in Japan.Go remained in seclusion during the war, but returned in force in 1947. Two years later, at the age of 36, Go Seigen was made 9-dan. The highest rank possible. His games throughout are marked by a crystal clear ability to grasp the workings of a game and turn them to his advantage. As a reader of his games one is constantly struck by how much of the game Go is able to see. It is if every move, no matter how tactical always has a strategic reason behind it. "Winning a Won Game" is the second in a series of lectures between the master and an anonymous player focused on how to create and keep an advantage at the Go board. The style is to show the game at it's crisis point, then go back and play through the game (with heavy commentary), and the carry it through to the moment of decision. Go Seigen's pride is well earned, but he is not ashamed to reveal his mistakes as well as his moments of brilliance. Even though I am far from a 9-dan I found much to absorb, and intend to return to this volume many times. There are ten games, seven that were one and 3 that were lost. All are wonderful, and I am determined to track down the first volume in this series. There are great examples of 3-3 and 4-4 openings. Well worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: Inside the Mind of the Best.
Review: Go Seigen is easily the best Go player of the 20th Century. Born Wu Qingyuan in Fujian province (1914). Go's father taught him the game when he was eight and he took of like a rocket. At the age of 11 he was winning against most of China's top players. Finally Go, the national champion of China in 1927, was offered the chance to play and study in Japan. His career in Japan was every bit as spectacular. In 1932 he reached 5-dan ranking. This was a period of some turmoil in Go. Many players, Go included, where trying new openings and breaking with tradition. In Japan, where the traditions around the game are intense this caused a great deal of argument. By the war, Go Seigen was and 8-dan, and already the most formidable player in Japan. Go remained in seclusion during the war, but returned in force in 1947. Two years later, at the age of 36, Go Seigen was made 9-dan. The highest rank possible. His games throughout are marked by a crystal clear ability to grasp the workings of a game and turn them to his advantage. As a reader of his games one is constantly struck by how much of the game Go is able to see. It is if every move, no matter how tactical always has a strategic reason behind it. "Winning a Won Game" is the second in a series of lectures between the master and an anonymous player focused on how to create and keep an advantage at the Go board. The style is to show the game at it's crisis point, then go back and play through the game (with heavy commentary), and the carry it through to the moment of decision. Go Seigen's pride is well earned, but he is not ashamed to reveal his mistakes as well as his moments of brilliance. Even though I am far from a 9-dan I found much to absorb, and intend to return to this volume many times. There are ten games, seven that were one and 3 that were lost. All are wonderful, and I am determined to track down the first volume in this series. There are great examples of 3-3 and 4-4 openings. Well worth the price.
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