Known as Wei Ch'i in China, where it originated 4,000 years ago, the territorial board game of Go is enjoyed today by millions around the world. Its rules are very simple, but it bears endless possibilities for complex strategic maneuvers — in fact, the game is reputed to be beyond the capacity of computers!Manuals for Go are hard to come by; this basic, step-by-step introduction, written by a Westerner for Western players, introduces newcomers to the game and also helps experienced players hone their skills. “Go is for everyone,” notes author John Fairbairn. “Judgment and experience are at least as important in Go as mental agility, and young and old are equally represented at even the highest and most strenuous levels of the game.”This easy-to-follow guide covers rules, basic tactics, how to start a game, the middle game, unusual positions, handicaps, and much more. Simply and clearly written, Invitation to Go enables readers to master the fundamentals and techniques, and instills an appreciation of one of the world’s most ancient and popular games.

Invitation to go

Fairbairn, John

Oxford : Oxford University Press

"Go" is a territorial board game which originated 4,000 years ago in China, where it is known as "Wei Ch'i"."Go" is played by millions in Asia, Europe and America.  The rules are very simple.  But the strategy can be as complicated as you like, and the game is said to be beyond the capacity of computers!This book is a step-by-step introduction to the game.

Oxford University Press

Known as Wei Ch'i in China, where it originated 4,000 years ago, the territorial board game of Go is enjoyed today by millions around the world. Its rules are very simple, but it bears endless possibilities for complex strategic maneuvers — in fact, the game is reputed to be beyond the capacity of computers! Manuals for Go are hard to come by; this basic, step-by-step introduction, written by a Westerner for Western players, introduces newcomers to the game and also helps experienced players hone their skills. “Go is for everyone,” notes author John Fairbairn. “Judgment and experience are at least as important in Go as mental agility, and young and old are equally represented at even the highest and most strenuous levels of the game.” This easy-to-follow guide covers rules, basic tactics, how to start a game, the middle game, unusual positions, handicaps, and much more. Simply and clearly written, Invitation to Go enables readers to master the fundamentals and techniques, and instills an appreciation of one of the world’s most ancient and popular games.

Invitation to Go

Humor & Entertainment

Puzzles & Games

Dover Publications

Bindi is a little Qld town near the NSW border and Troy is the new boy from Brisbane. He is learning that there are a lot of differences from living in the big smoke. Still, it's good fun and Troy is lucky to have made such good mates. Some of them tell their own stories in the 12 chapters that make up this collection. A title in the UQP 'Storybridge' series. For ages 9-11 years.

Bindi (Uqp Storybridge Series)

Children's Books

Univ of Queensland Pr

The Confectioners

Caine, William

History

Nabu Press

Honinbo Shuei (1852~1907) is the go player that masters of the calibre even of Go Seigen and Takagawa Kaku professed to admire the most. Many consider him the Meijin of Meijins, and in his late years no-one could play without a handicap against him. Yet he achieved his dominance only in middle age, having several times disappeared from the mainstream go world for months on end. He lived at a time of enormous upheaval and uncertainty in the Japanese go world, seeing tragedy strike his father, his brother and his mentor. His own life was marred by a debilitating disease. But he compounded his problems by choosing to struggle - with some success - to uphold the Honinbo name and the game's traditions in the brave new world represented by the rival Hoensha organisation. This book is a ground-breaking, detailed biography of Shuei set within the background of the tumultuous times he lived through. It is sympathetic but candid.

Meijin of Meijins: The Life and Times of Honinbo Shuei

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Yasui VII Senkaku (1764 ~ 1837) is famous as the "Father of Modern Go" even though relatively few of his games remain. This book presents commentaries on six of his Castle Games, plus a selection of other games to provide a rounded picture of an innovative player who was able to combine the virtues of old go and modern go. The commentaries are by Kato Shin (1891 ~ 1952), who may justifiably be styled the "Father of Modern Go Writing." He combined being a top pro with an ability to write on a wide range of topics in days when the fledgling amateur go audience had to be found and nurtured. Kato was famous also as a defender of no-komi go. He thus had a sympathy for and an insight into Edo go which comes through in his commentaries.John Fairbairn is a prolific and experienced translator and writer on go history for the western audience.

Peerless Pioneer - Yasui VII Senkaku (Old Go Masters)

Shin, Kato

Honinbo Shuei (1852~1907) is one of the go players most admired by professionals. In great part this is to do with his style, which has greatly influenced later luminaries such as Go Seigen and Takagawa Kaku. But there is a special fascination, too, in that for most of his career he was a fairly ordinary player. It was only late in life that he surged to a supreme level - he has been dubbed the Meijin of Meijins - at which he gave handicaps to every single opponent.This book traces the evolution of Shuei's style by tracing his career chronologically through 121 games. Because he was so admired, his games have been commented by numerous players, including his own pupils such as Honinbo Shusai but also many modern players. All these professional commentaries have been distilled into a new Go Wisdom format, designed to enable the reader not just to enjoy Shuei's games but also to learn from them quickly and reliably.Shuei himself was a great teacher. Because he was so far ahead of his pupils, he willingly played teaching games with them, and their later commentaries are often imbued with his post-game comments. In addition, Shuei commented on games by other players. Although few examples survive, they are also given here, so making the total of games presented 133.The Go Wisdom format can be considered to form two parts. One is presentation of the games themselves, designed to make games easy to play over and the comments easy to follow. Here we see commentary based entirely on many professional opinions. However, following current theories about the most efficient ay to learn, the reader is strongly encouraged at the same time to indulge in "effortful practice." This means variation diagrams are dispensed with. Variations are given but in a way that forces readers to visualise them for themselves, and so learn better.The other part of Go Wisdom is a very large appendix of wise things said about go professionals in general. The idea here is that, if the reader of the game commentaries comes across something puzzling, or - even better - comes up with a question about something not mentioned, he can turn to the appendix and read up on that topic in depth. All commentary mentions of each topic are indexed, so that it is also possible to study each of over 100 topics (such as thickness, momentum, probes, moyos, bullying plays) over a very wide range of games with specific commented examples. Since, Go Wisdom is entirely compatible with other books in the same format (such as Genjo-Chotoku), the range of reliable examples and interesting comments to study can be enough for even the most serious student.This book is also backed by a full-length biography of Shuei, Meijin of Meijins, also available on Amazon. It obviously adds further details, especially about his pupils and other opponents.

Games of Shuei: with commentaries

Independently published

The Meijin (or Master) has long been the most prestigious title in Japan for the best players of the oriental game of go. Only one Meijin at a time was allowed. Two of the very best players were Honinbo Genjo and Yasui Chitoku. Neither was Meijin. The reason was that they were at their peak in the same era, the early 19th century, which is often referred to as the Golden Age of go in Japan. They were rivals, but were also friends. Many of their games survive and each one is treasured. A major part of the reason is that both had contrasting styles - one favouring early territory then digging in, the other favouring early strength and gaining territory, or reducing the opponent's, by later fighting. This, along with the very high standard of play, has made their games almost a standard text-book for students of the game. The present book collects all their 80-odd games with each other - several being recent finds - and gives detailed commentaries based on a combination of the very many professional commentaries that these games have attracted over two centuries. The historical and biographical background is provided, of course. This is a first, in any language. But traditional commentaries contain a pitfall for amateur students. It is too easy to look at a variation diagram and feel that you have somehow understood. It is like playing games over on a computer screen - click, click, click. Real progress can only come with a slower and more effortful form of study. This book is also an experiment in trying to create that environment.With a view to enabling the reader to think for himself and to read for himself, this book has been designed on the basis of a three-pronged approach. Prong 1 is to encourage the reader actually play over the game on a board. We can call this flow practice – building up the intuition. Prong 2 is to make the reader work out variations for himself. We can call this reading or visualisation practice. This is done either by using letters on the board instead of variation diagrams, or by giving within the commentary some guidance on what the reading should achieve (e.g. it may just say Black does not play this way because White can make a ko in the corner, and if that is deemed a little too difficult to see, we may add something like “He starts with A”). Prong 3 is a major appendix where all the technical words and themes in the book (moyos, ijime, momentum, seri-ai attacks, etc) are discussed and accompanied by memory joggers in the form of proverbs and the like. The idea is not to explain any individual move but to give the reader enough ammunition to think for himself. Hence we can call this creative-thinking practice. Obviously all the examples within the games are cross-referenced with each other, building up a corpus of living examples of each concept. The effect is akin in some respects to training neural networks in artificial intelligence. Although this is all oriented somewhat towards the stronger player, there are plenty of comments for weaker players, too. Both the rich texture of the commentary and the design of the book - with colour coding, cross references and easy-to-read diagrams - add up to make a book where people can, and will want to, go back and re-read once they’ve improved a little and so see even more in each game. Ideally on a real kaya board with slate and shell stones. The book even reveals Genjo's favourite sake, which you can still buy if you wish to really get in the mood!

Genjo-Chitoku: Friends and Rivals at the Pinnacle of the Go World

A complete and fascinating exposition of the game of Shogi (Japanese chess). Includes rules, strategy, problems and sample games.

Shogi for Beginners

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Ishi Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fairbairn, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Fairbairn, John

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fairbairn, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Invitation to go

Invitation to go

Invitation to Go

Bindi (Uqp Storybridge Series)

The Confectioners

Meijin of Meijins: The Life and Times of Honinbo Shuei

Peerless Pioneer - Yasui VII Senkaku (Old Go Masters)

Games of Shuei: with commentaries

Genjo-Chitoku: Friends and Rivals at the Pinnacle of the Go World

Shogi for Beginners