Making Good Shape, Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich

Part of the "Mastering the Basics" series, Volume 3.

From the Jacket:

Good shape is a subject that has received scant attention in Japanese go literature. Although references to shape are made in most books, there is no one book devoted exclusively to this subject. However, understanding and recognizing good shape is important for becoming a strong player and developing the intuition that will instantly guide you to find the strongest moves in the opening and the middle-game fighting.

Shapes are the building blocks of your groups. They determines whether your stones are working together efficiently or are sitting in each other’s way. Good shape is a source of strength to build on, while bad shape often comes back to haunt you.

There are two aspects of shape. One is to make good shape for your own stones; the other is to spoil the shape of your opponent’s stones. However, good shape is more than a static form; it is dynamic in the way it builds eye shape and stays ahead of the opponent in running battles while building more eye shape.

This book provides an extensive theoretical introduction to shape, beginning with the efficient placement of stones. It illustrates various techniques for making good shape and gives its readers practical experience by presenting 246 problems so that they can hone their skill to find the shape move in their games.

Published by Kiseido Publishing Company
Copyright 2002, Rob van Zeijst & Richard Bozulich

Comments & Reviews

Big stepping stone for me - Written by pasky

Reading this book made me noticeably stronger almost immediately and almost alone it provided me with tactical knowledge and experience base required to advance through the (KGS) single-digit kyu range. While most of the problems are relatively hard, I think many of them can be doable by a 10k and even trying for a short while and then looking at the solution (like I did) can be very valuable alone, particularly if you are going through the book multiple times.

The theory part is ok, I didn’t find the games particularily inspiring, but the problems part is the greatest asset of this book. Go for it if you see it.

Target audience IMO: 12k-2k (maybe stronger players will benefit too)

Great book - Written by yoyoma

This is the best book targeting an area that not many cover. Much better than Suji and Anti-Suji of go, the closest equivalent.

I love it! - Written by kiseki

This book is a whole lot of fun because it hit on something new to me. I agree that the problems are often difficult, but I got a lot out of it as a 12k old KGS. The re-readability factor is huge, as I seem to get lots out of it even on this, my fifth time through the book. Unlike the other reviewers, I found the theoretical stuff tiring. I wish it was shorter with more problems, like the others in the mastering the basics series, since there are just less than 250 problems. I’m not much a fan of the games afterward either, as I just want more problems. The intangible is that it seems exotic and interesting. When people see my library, their eyes often snap to this book, and more than a few friends have expressed their like of the book after briefly borrowing it. I read it daily.

Thought provoking - Written by Javaness

A very solid text on the subject of shape. Perhaps the initial discussion of shape could have been a bit better sometimes (, the ponnuki part was a little overdone, for example). However the problems have been designed well to make you think about the text. I am an EGF 3k and I found them quite challenging. The two pro games at the end where also good choices, but I would recommend buying this book for the problems alone.

Nice try - Written by Hicham

This book tried to bridge the gaping shape hole in th English Go books.

I wish the theoretical part was longer, because I like that better then just problems. The problems are ok, but a lot of them are on the hard side. I would like to have less shape tesuji and more make good shape moves.

There are quite some errata in this book as well. Target audience IMO: 4k-2D

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