The Magic of Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game

by Cho Chikun

New

Genres: Nonfiction, Go, Games

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Carlos Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really good introduction.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in a single sitting, and it was an easy read. I played out all the 9x9 and 19x19 games on a board and noticed a few problems with the kifu /diagrams but nothing that lead me astray from the lesson. I mostly wanted to get a comparison of this book to the first two vols from the "Learn to Play Go" series by Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-hyun. Having just finished these two books I thought it would good to see how other intro books covered the topics.

For me I found this book is a bit harder to follow. It seemed terse at times and regularly makes references to diagrams which are on other pages than the text. That being said, I did enjoy the flow of the book, and the middle chapters which cover topics outside of the actual playing of the game were very interesting. Towards the end of the book there are a few full games with in-line analysis which I found helpful to drive home the points from earlier chapters.

Overall I think I might be too spoiled on how well the first two Vols of the "Learn to play Go" series have lead me along. I would lean towards the "Learn to play go" series if I had to choose between those books and this book, but my preference is mostly based on my need to be guided/prodded more.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book teaches the rules of Go, basic strategies, and the fun of Go.

[Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very good introduction to the game and the culture and history of go.