One Thousand and One Life-and-Death Problems, Richard Bozulich

The problems in this book focus on technique and reading, not on standard corner positions. The explanations are minimal and limited to either illustrating a fundamental principle or a tesuji. The reader is expected to make the effort to verify that the answer to each problem is indeed the best and most profitable move, and to prove to himself that any other move fails to achieve the stated objective. This effort is also part of the practice that these problems provide. It is not an easy task: it requires mental discipline. But doing it will not only improve your go, it will also improve your mental powers.

The problems are not hard; they range from very easy to moderately difficult. However, there are some rather tricky ones strewn throughout. A dan player should be able to solve most of them within a minute, sometimes on sight, but it may take a bit longer for kyu-level players. But even if you are a dan player, solving these problem will keep your go sharp and give you the competive edge that you need to win your games.

This book makes an ideal companion to Get Strong at Tesuji in Kiseido’s "Get Strong at Go Series".

Comments & Reviews

One word. GREAT!!!

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Probably my favorite Go-book. The difficulty-level of the tsumego is not that high, but you’ll have to read the problem thoroughly to get them right.

It will improve your reading for sure!

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Good collection of problems for routine practice. There are quite a few errors, which might be confusing, stones missing from the problem diagram for example. Usually you can figure this out by comparing the answer diagram with the problem diagram after you have "solved" the erroneous problem, but it spoild that problem. There is an errata page (http://senseis.xmp.net/?OneThousandAndOneLifeAndDeathProblems%2FErrata) on SL which it might pay to consult.

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I love going through this book. There is a very good mix of problems, and they are organized nicely within this book. Every time I pick up this book to do a page of problems it seems that I loose myself in it. I get to the end of a page and think “Just one more”. At 5 k, it is great for me, and younger players could also get a lot out of it. It is NOT the first life and death book you should get. There have been a few occasions when I struggled to understand even the answers, as there is only a line or so of explanation. Currently one of my personal favorite books.

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