Making Good Shape

Book excerpt: 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 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 determine 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 up 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 245 problems so that they can hone their skills to find the shape move in their games.