Technically, these books should fall in the category of commented pro games, but they aren’t really as in-depth as the books in that section and focus on certain aspects of games instead.

Volume 1: Perceiving the Direction of Play—Kobayashi Satoru

           I picked this book up just recently at the 2014 Go Congress to add to my library, but I have yet to open it. Therefore, I’m going to withhold my judgment on it until I one day take some glances at it (which probably won’t be for a long time, sorry!) I can probably say that what I would say about it would probably be similar to what I would say about the other books in this series.

Volume 2: Catching Scent of Victory—O Rissei

           I forget why I got this book, but maybe it was because I liked the title, and I like winning. That said, I don’t remember anything about what I read in this book. I’m sure I got something out of it like exposure to some shapes or something, but I can’t remember anything in particular. I don’t think it’s a bad book though (I finished it after all), but there are better books. If you just want to read some pro commentaries (there’s 32 partial ones in here), then it’s not bad. 6.5/10; 2d-5d

Volume 5: The Way of Creating a Thick and Strong Game—Hane Naoki

           I think my friend Hugh recommended this book to me a few years back. In particular, I like this book more so than volume 2 of this series because it is more thorough and focused. There are 37 games in this book, although most of them are only commented up to the middle game, but it’s fairly sufficient for the purpose of this book. I don’t remember much about it other than that it was my bedtime reading for a period of time, but I would treat it as focused pro commentary. If the title interests you, give it a go; but I wouldn’t say it’s an urgent book for your library. 7/10; 2d-5d

Shuko: The Only Move—Fujisawa Shuko

Volume 1: Joseki/Fuseki Collection

           One could put this series as tsumego books, but it’s a little different from the typical tesuji or life and death books, so it’s getting its own category. This book consists of 80 fuseki problems, each one stemming from a pro game. I opened this book a few times while on the toilet, but I don’t think I got very far before I dropped it. After taking another look at it just now, I think this book isn’t that bad and has interesting explanations and problems. I’d say it’s worth a read-through. 7/10; 3d-6d

Volume 2: Fighting Middlegame Collection

           Okay this one, I’ll admit I can’t recall ever opening (until 1/7/15). However, I’m going to assume it’s of similar quality to the first volume, so I’ll provisionally give it the same rating until I one day go through it. 7/10; 3d-6d

Dan-Level Tsumego Books

Liping Huang's Problem Series Volume 1—Liping Huang and Nancy Xu

           I'll admit I never actually went through this entire book, although I don't remember why. Looking at it again briefly, the problems (there are 114 of them split into three levels) are pretty classic ones that you would probably find in a lot of other life and death books with pretty practical tesujis. 7.5/10; 1d-5d

Train Like a Pro 1/Train Like a Pro 2—Kim Sung-rae

           This series consists of two books; the second simply being different sets of problems from the first, hence I lumped them together. The concept of the book is actually pretty cool: it’s split into “days”, each consisting of 4 of each tesuji, opening, life and death, joseki, 2 “guess the next move of a pro game” problems, and a 13x13 whole-board endgame problem where you are supposed to find the best moves and calculate the final scores. Each book contains 30 days of materials, which means a total of 1140 problems. The quality of the problems are pretty good and suitable for dan-level players and get progressively harder (I think). The solutions come in a separate book, which is kind of cool and kind of not cool, as it discourages anxious flipping before actually expending considerate effort to solve a tough problem. On the other hand, it is a little inconvenient, but I guess that’s ok. However, there are only answers in the solution book with only one diagram each, which means that if your answer is wrong, you have to figure out why, as there are no explanations to help you. I remember trying to follow the day schedule the book gives you to try and finish both books before a tournament, but I ended up stopping at some point in the second book. I’ll probably go through these books again one day. 8/10; 3d+

Graded Go Problems for Dan Players Volume 2: 300 Tesuji Problems (3k-3d)—Nihon Kiin/Kiseido

           I did this book when I was 3d so it's hard to say I got a lot of value out of it because it was rather easy for me at the time and I could finish the whole book over the course of a day. That said, it compliments Get Strong at Tesuji and is still a good book just to sharpen your tactical intuition and ingrain some of the more basic tesujis into your head. I think weaker players would get good value out of this problem set. 8.5/10; 3k-2d

***Graded Go Problems for Dan Players Volume 4: 300 Life and Death Problems (4d-7d) —Nihon Kiin/Kiseido***

           Hoo boy. This book is incredibly infuriating because the problems get way harder in the second half of the book. The first 100 or so problems aren't so bad for a 5d, but then they just taking longer and longer to solve. I have yet to finish this book (I've picked it up and dropped it multiple times), but I think thoroughly going through all of the problems in it multiple times will be really useful for improving one's reading ability. 10/10; 5d+

***Graded Go Problems for Dan Players Volume 5: 300 Tesuji Problems (4d-7d) —Nihon Kiin/Kiseido

***

           Like volume 4, this book is just as excellent. The problems are a little bit easier to go through, but honestly to be able to internalize the answers is really hard. I went through this book the first time back in 2013 whenever I was waiting for the bus after school/while I was on the bus going back home. Just recently I picked it up again, and I still can't find most of the answers instinctively. When you can do that, I think your tactical sense in games will be razor sharp. 10/10; 5d+

Graded Go Problems for Dan Players Volume 7: 256 Opening and Middle Game Problems (1d-7d) —Nihon Kiin/Kiseido

           I actually got this volume before volumes 4 and 5 (it came out before them) back in 2013. It's a pretty good book, but like other opening problem books, sometimes the answers can be a little subjective and I'm sure there are other possibilities for solutions. I actually remember looking at some of the problems with Hugh Zhang 7d, and he was raising his eyebrows at some of the answers. It's still definitely not a bad problem set though and worth a reread or two. 8/10; 4d+

Igo Hatsuyoron volume 1—Inoue Dosetsu Inseki

Ha.Ha.Ha. Yea...this book is too hard. Not even going to bother with it for a long long time unless there's a special reason to. I guess it's fun to have though. 8/10 as a collectible; 1.5/10 as practical study material; 10/10 as tryhard material if you're at least 7d; 7d+

Commented Pro Games

Commented Games by Lee Sedol I—Lee Sedol and Lee Sena

           If there’s one book on commented pro games you should get, it should be this one. The commentary is extremely thorough and insightful. However, what I like most about this book are the quotes under each figure about Lee Sedol’s thoughts pertaining to that point in time in the game. The side stories interspersed throughout the games about Lee Sedol’s childhood are also quite interesting to read about. In fact, they were so interesting to read about that I think I had skipped through the book to read them all together before going back to the game commentary. I got this book before it was even officially released in English at the 2012 AGA Pro qualifier finals and finished it the month after, reading it on the airplane ride back to Maryland after the Go Congress, on the airplane to Lille for the 2012 World Mind Sports Games a few days after, and I think I finished it on the way back. There are three commented games in this volume. If there’s any other incentive to get this book, it’s that the third game is in fact the game used in Hikaru no Go (SMALL SPOILER??) when Hikaru plays against Ko Yongha towards the end of the manga. Read the manga yourself if you want to know who was who. ;) 9/10; 4d+

Commented Games by Lee Sedol II—Lee Sedol and Lee Sena

           I believe this book came out a year later, and I was able to pick it up at the 2013 Go Congress. I haven’t yet finished the book (it’s probably next on my list and is sitting on my desk shelf in my dorm at the moment), but it’s of similar stellar quality as the first volume. Maybe I’ll write a little more about it after I finish it. 9/10; 4d+

Winning a Won Game—Go Seigen

           So I have this big problem with wrapping up games where I’m ahead after opening/early middle game, and then proceed to throw the game one way or another by doing something stupid. The title of this book seemed quite appropriate, no? Of course, there is a difference between thrashing to kill a big group to make your opponent resign, and playing solidly to sustain a lead that is insurmountable. Most amateurs don’t resign when they’re behind by a few points even if there’s no realistic way to catch up. Winning a won game takes a lot of positional judgment and counting skills to accurately judge what kind of strategy is best to take in the latter part of the game. I remember reading this book around May/June of 2013 while sitting in my high school chemistry teacher’s room when I was visiting friends after being done with classes. The book is fairly interesting to read, as it uses language in the form of a dialogue between Go Seigen and Mr. X (an amateur player I presume). The two go over 10 of Go Seigen’s games. I don’t think you’ll really make a big jump in your ability to “win a won game” after reading this book, but it’s still not bad of a book just as commentaries on some of Go Seigen’s games. 6/10; 3d+

The Go Consultants—John Fairbairn and T Mark Hall

           I think I finished this book? I honestly can’t remember. Anyways, this book is a solid 150-page commentary about a single(!) rengo game between Suzuki Tamejiro and Segoe Kensaku against Kitani Minoru and Go Seigen. I don’t remember too much other than the book other than that I had read it in the family room of my house at some point. There’s a lot of narration and quotes from the four players about their consultation, which makes it fairly entertaining to read. The commentary is very thorough and pretty much move-by-move. That said, the only thing I remember taking away from this book was a cool move in the upper left corner (look up the game or buy the book if you want to know what I’m talking about!). It’s still a pretty entertaining read though. 7/10; 1d+

Invincible: The Games of Shusaku—John Power

           Many thanks to my friend Ben at BenGoZen who generously traded me this HARDCOVER book in exchange for two graded go problems for dan players volumes that I bought separately. There is a TON of historical background about almost all of the top players during the Edo period, the politics at the time, and so much more. It's truly THE book to get for people interested in Shusaku's era. There's also a ton of commented games, including Shusaku's famous 19 castle games and many more. That said, I never went past the opening historical background chapters for a long time after getting this book until Fall of 2014, where I finally cracked down and read/replayed through all of the Castle Games. I'm not sure what to say about the educational study value of this book, as while Shusaku was a top player of his time, a lot of the openings during that time are almost completely irrelevant now. Even though the middle game is more relevant, I just feel like the strength of top modern pros exceeds the quality of games played back then. I'm not sure if I'll go back to this book for studying games except for fun, as in my opinion studying modern games is more beneficial. 10/10 as a collectible; 7.5/10 as study material; 5d+; recommended to all interested in Shusaku and/or the Edo period of Go.