Korean Go classic life and death training

Author: Li Ang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Since the 1990s, Korean Go has risen to prominence. On the international stage, it has dominated with overwhelming strength, leaving Chinese and Japanese masters humbled and Chinese and Japanese fans indignant. The reasons behind this are debated by Chinese and Japanese media, with no definitive conclusion. In my opinion, Korea's success in becoming a dominant force in Go within just a decade was no coincidence. The fundamental reasons, apart from the rationality of its professional Go team development, management system, and absolutely fair competitive tournament system, lie in its training mechanisms for nurturing future talent. Emphasis on fundamental Go skills, particularly local life-and-death training, is undoubtedly the key reason why Korean youth excel and achieve greatness early. After a period of dedicated observation, I found that their life-and-death training shares similarities with ours, manifested in:
1. No distinction between problem types, nor any hints on solving methods. Whether a position is alive or dead, whether it's a ko or a clean kill, players must observe and judge independently.
2. Diverse go patterns, including corners, sides, and central positions, resembling real-game fragments.
3. A mix of difficulty levels, with no sequential order, completely detached from the fixed mindset of solving problems from easy to hard.
4. These three characteristics align more closely with practical requirements, while the design of the problems ensures content continuity with actual play. This is the essence that requires players to continuously learn and reflect.
Therefore, out of my limited knowledge, I have collected classic life-and-death problems used for training at renowned Korean Go dojos, compiled and solved them into a book, and presented the solutions with diagrams illustrating the reasoning. This aims to guide readers toward the correct approach, benefiting a broad audience of enthusiasts. It is undoubtedly an excellent training manual for those aspiring to improve their Go skills.