The Dragon Style (Learn to Play Go Volume III): Learn to Play Go Volume III

by Janice Kim, Jeong Soo-Lynn, Jeong Soo-Hyun

Book Overview

The Dragon Style is the third volume in the popular Learn to Play Go series. Topics include seven deadly Go sins and eight secrets of winning play. Real games - even, high, and low handicap - are... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 096447963X
• ISBN13: 9780964479630
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Good Move Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Very Good Book

The pictures help out alot when it comes to explaining strategies and styles of play.

Great!!!

For the beginners, like myself, the book is fantastic! As a matter of fact, the whole series is brilliant: Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-hyun start with the explanation of the game's rules, and step by step walk you through the principles of its strategy and tactics. In this particular volume, three really-played games are reviewed with dozens of comments 'why-this-play-now-but-not-the-other-one', so after a wile you feel go is not anymore a dark jungle full of white (if you are just playing black) or black (if vice versa) monsters, like it used to be before, but a very logic stream of causes and consequences arising from a particular play. Very useful are the problems at the end of each book or even each chapter, again, with very detailed answers and descriptions why the hell 'A' but never ever 'B'! Absolute must for every beginner getting addicted to the game of go with, perhaps, one remark: when the say after reading all the books in the series you are ~10kyu, they are much too optimistic :-). At least - not on IGS. But never mind! So, enjoy it. It really pays back! Piotr Lewczuk, Erlangen, Germany

Perfect entry to upper kyus (20-15) and good refreseher for everyone else

Its rather surprising that the authors were able to condense so many useful proverbs into a single volume. The explanations are carefully thought out and explained, and they aren't based off impossible or labyrinthian setups, but positions than can and, as I have seen myself, arise in actual games. The self-testing section at the end of the book is precise and helps to reinforce the lessons presented, and yet simple enough that you don't require a board of your own to lay the problems out on. And even upper level players(10-8 kyus) would find this book useful as refresher. It was quite surprising how many knee-jerk reactions even I had that were brought up at some point. The only problem I had with this book were the games they chose to review to illustrate the points made earlier in the book. While the games were simple and straightforward, thats all they were. Quite honestly, if the author did not say at the beginning that these were professional level games, I would not have believed that they were. But as far as criticisms go, that pales in comparison to how much good this book can do for players.

Learning to Read

Having worked through the first two volumes of this series, the enterprising young player is anxious to start playing Go and stop reading about it. In addition, for some time and many players, that is sufficient. Certainly one has learned enough to live happily in the moment of conflict and capture, more than many players do. With concentration, comes a fair share of the victories and steady improvement. Alas, this is not a perfect world. Go is a vast game, and few ever completely understand it. If a player is to improve, a time will come when he or she must study the game itself if they are to develop. Subtle bad habits of play become self destructive when facing stronger players. These latter also seem to have a magical ability to pull victory out of despair even under handicapping.Now is the time to address the third volume 'The Dragon Style.' Despite the magical title, the purpose of this volume is to make a player aware if good and bad habits, and to begin to teach the fundamentals of strategy. To learn now one must begin to read. Read positions, read the games of others, sometimes even try to read minds. The majority of this book walks a play through several games in detail, carefully explaining the purposes of each move.Really, this isn't hard work. With enough information to understand what each player is trying to do much can be learned from this study, It is, after all, far easier to see the whole game when it isn't the one you are playing right now. The problem, of course, is finding a source of games that are annotated intelligibly and enjoyably. Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-hyun provide some good examples. These will provide the basis for studying others. There is nothing especially draconic about the 'dragon style.' It is sensible, thoughtful play that considers everything. Of course, this is easier to say than to accomplish. This book provides a good start along the path of reading games. If it has a failing, it is that it does not provide a list of good sources of games for study. Many are available, but not all analyses are suitable for all levels of players.

"Go for Dummies?" Only if that is meant as praise!

I learned(?) how to play Go 45 years ago. I've read all the beginners' books available in English, many in Japanese, and most of the advanced books in English. There is nothing better for learning than a good teacher -- the subtleties are "impossible" to discover by yourself. This series is as close as you can get to having an expert teacher right there with you. This is the book (series) I loan (or give) to friends who are interested in learning Go. Nothing is left out. The style of this series is intended to not be overwhelming to anyone interested. I think that the "Dummy" and "Complere Idiot" books are not really intended for dummies!!! - rather they are intended for people who don't yet have enough relevant background to appreciate books meant for "serious" students. With that understanding, this set of books really fills the bill. Plus lots of stuff to help the serious student understand this very interesting game -- easier to learn than chess, but harder to get good at.