The Basics of Go Strategy

Aji, kikashi (forcing moves), and sabaki are the most important concepts of go. They imbue the game with strategic subtleties unmatched in any other game. Without an understanding of these concepts, no go player can hope to attain a high level of skill. Besides these concepts, it is also necessary to understand the shape and distribution of stones and how they influence other parts of the board, determining which stones are important and which stones can be sacrificed, and which stones must be strengthened before playing large-scale strategic moves.
The aim of this book is to bring together these ideas and to show the reader how they interact. Many of the examples and problems are taken from professional games so that the reader can see how the top pros deal with and utilize these concepts.
This book is divided into two parts. The first part is expository, and the second part consists of 101 problems. These problems will expose the the reader to various techniques and ways to think about certain kinds of positions. The reader is urged to approach them as positions that might occur in their own games, decide how they would play, and then look at the answers to compare their own thinking to that of a professional.

• Author: Richard Bozulich
• Number of pages: 216
• Book size: 21,0 x 14,8 cm
• Publisher: Kiseido Publishing Company
• Year of issue: 2007
• ISBN: 9784906574759