GO: A Complete Introduction to the Game (Beginner and Elementary Go Books)

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 a fantastic introduction to Go. I especially love the history chapters put between lesson chapters. They provide interesting background while giving the brain a short break before the next “lesson”. There are also useful book suggestions for further studies. I can’t recommend this enough.

If you're completely new to Go, or only played a few games but felt confused, this book will give you the basics. Suitable for anyone between 30 kyu (complete beginner) to 20 kyu (understand the basics). Beyond that, there's perhaps a few tips and tricks to pick up that could be beneficial. As a ~17 kyu, I'd get a different book, though the sections in between detailing history, Go in the world, and such, was nice. Overall, well written and informative. The examples were easy to follow, and the style was light. Just a tad bit too simplistic once you've crossed the 20 kyu barrier.

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!

Written in simple English, wonderful examples, clear in every part. The best book to begin to play go! Excellent quality and very good price!

This is a great book written by an authority on the game. It slowly progresses chapter by chapter making sure each new idea is cemented in the reader's brain before moving on to the next set of ideas. If you've never played Go this book will teach you all you need, and if like myself you;ve played but not achieved any standard well it might take 20 pages before you hit some new ideas. There's a very advanced game featured with step by step commentary so this could be a great first Go book for even seasoned players. In between chapters are short articles on the history and development of the game along with details of the p[rofessional game around the world. I enjoyed these as they break up the learning abit. Recommended.

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

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?

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.