Go for Beginners Paperback – Illustrated, 1 Mar. 1977

I have read five or six Go books now and none explain this well or in this much depth before once my go table i will fully understand the finer points of practicing with the book and table :) looking foreword to it

I am learning the game, and the book is clear and has plenty of examples, recommended!

This is currently at an acceptable price, and it'll just about do.It's a book that was written a long time ago, there is a list of addresses of national and USAian Go club addresses, which are presumably mostly out of date.The introduction is intensely USAian oriented, Britain and Europe have their own histories, even in Go, and an introduction that only mentions the introduction of the game to the USA is not entirely appropriate here.There are issues with the "ko" and "bent four in the corner" rules, as these have changed in wording though not so much in effect, since the book was published.If a revised edition is ever written, which with the number of other (more expensive) books on the subject is unlikely, it would be a good idea to have all the diagrams on the same page as the text which refers to them, and the references to marked stones in the text is made difficult by the fact that the ink flows which means that the marks are somewhat obscured in the text. This is a common fault in go English language Go books, but since the marked stones in the figures show up almost perfectly, it should be possible to fix this in another printing.All in all, authoritative but out of date, it will do so long as someone who is aware of the new rules can mention that there are minor issues to potential readers.

Very well written.

Easy to follow and good to learn the basics

This book comprehensively covers the game of Go, and justifies the word "Beginners" in the title by at least starting with the basics. But sadly I wouldn't recommend it as a book suitable for someone completely new to learning the game. Iwamoto's knowledge is impressive, and his writing style clear and descriptive. But what he offers is more a demonstration of his own Go understanding, rather than explanations to help others understand.The style is concise (but not terse), and moves rapidly from the basics through increasingly complex board positions and plays. But too often he dismisses a new layout of stones (just a jumble of black and white to the novice!) with statements such as "in this position, black's best move is obvious..." It may well be obvious to an expert, but the whole point of the book ought to be to explain why a certain move is the correct/best one - and the lack of this explanation makes the book frustrating and ultimately unsuitable for beginners. The style is also occasionally patronising - Iwamoto refers to one common beginner's error as "boorish behaviour" which is neither helpful nor encouraging to a novice looking to an expert for advice and motivation.This book's strength however is its comprehensive coverage in a neat and small package. I think it works much better as an 'aide memoire' for the developing player, who is past the novice stage and wants some reminders of strategy and positional play to bolster learning gained elsewhere. Approach this book with that aim and it succeeds wonderfully. Approach it as a complete beginner wanting a gentle, hand-holding introduction, and you may be confused and disappointed.(Personally, I found 'Teach Yourself Go' by Charles Matthews much more suitable for a complete beginner to the game).

Excellent delivery service and at a competitive price.

Very clear instructions - nicely presented!