Beginners' English Go Books: Current and Historic
Some of these books include card Go sets, for instance "The Book of Go" and "Learn to Play Go Volume 1", and some were made for issue in Go sets, such as the Carlton Go Pack which contained Matthew Macfadyen's book.
You can see many of them on our list of Beginner's Book Recommendations.
Many listed are long out of print, but some of the very oldest have be reprinted in recent years and may still be available. Some are very new and have not been reviewed yet, and others have been published in America and are not so well known in the UK. Most of the UK, Japan and Korean published books, and those from the big Go publishers, have been more familiar in the UK.
Books are available from UK retailers or other foreign suppliers
| Title | Comment | Author | Publisher/Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teach Yourself Go / Be a Master at Go | Very thorough, UK author |
Charles Matthews | Teach Yourself |
| Learn to Play Go, Vol. 1 - 5 | Vol 1 has card Go set | Janice Kim | Good Move Press LPG1-LPG5 |
| A Scientific Introduction to Go | Yang Yu-Chia | Yutopian Y34 | |
| Weiqi in Culture, Vol 1 - Introductory Teaching Lecture | Wu Song Shen | Yutopian Y41 | |
| Let's Play Go! | For children | Yasutoshi Yasuda | Slate and Shell SL28 |
| Graded Go Problems, Vol. 1 | Learn by problems | Kano Yoshimori | Kiseido K47 / Ishi Press GGP1 |
| Baduk for Beginners | Korean authors | Kim Sung-rae and Sung Ki-chang | Korea ZBFB |
| Baduk Made Fun and Easy, Vol. 1 - 3 | Nam Chihyung | Eun Haeng NaMu ZBM1-ZBM3 |
Books available elsewhere
| Title | Comment | Author | Publisher/Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to Play Go. A Concise Introduction | new 2016 | Richard Bozulich / James Davies | Kiseido K?? |
| Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game | Cho Chikun | Kiseido K50 | |
| Go for Kids | For younger players, American author | Milton Bradley | Yutopian Y31 |
| Play Go | with copious diagrams | Neil Moffatt | NM01 |
| Go for Beginners | Old classic | Iwamoto Kaoru | Penguin / Ishi Press |
| Invitation to Go | John Fairbairn | Dover | |
| The Game of Go | With Carlton Go Pack | Matthew Macfadyen | Carlton |
| The Book of Go | Includes a card Go set | William Cobb | Sterling |
| So You Want to Play Go 1 | New in 2010 | Jonathan Hop | sundaygolessons.com (also electronic) |
| 21st Century Baduk for Beginers | New | Kim Sung-Rae/Sung Ki-Chang | Global Baduk ZBFB |
| Oriental Strategy in a Nutshell (EZ-GO) | From America | Bruce Wilcox | Wilcox EZGO |
| Go! More than a Game | From America | Peter Shotwell | Tuttle |
| Go Basics | From America | Peter Shotwell | Tuttle |
| Beginning Go | From America | Peter Shotwell | Tuttle |
| Four Great Games | Go plus Chess/ Chinese Chess/ Shogi | Tony Hosking | Shogi foundation |
| Go Fundamentals | Shigeru Kishikawa | Tuttle | |
| Speed Baduk for Beginners | 9 volumes of problems + 3 answer volumes | Kim Sung-Rae | Oromedia |
| Level Up | 5 volumes + review volume, for children | Lee Jae-Hwan | Baduktopia |
| Go Made Easy | New | Sam Sloane | Ishi Press International |
Out of Print and Classic Books
| Title | Comment | Author | Publisher/Code or Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Introduction to Go | Out of Print | James Davies and Richard Bozulich | Ishi Press G30 |
| Master Go in Ten Days | Out of Print | Xu Xiang / Jin Jiang Zhang | Yutopian Y11 |
| The Magic of Go | Out of Print | Cho Chikun | Ishi Press G41 |
| Steppingstones to Go | Old Classic | Shigemi Kishikawa | Tuttle 1965 |
| The Theory and Practice of Go | Old Classic | O. Korschelt | Tuttle 1965 orig. 1881 |
| Go and Go Moku | Old Classic | Edward Lasker | Dover orig. 1934 |
| Go a Guide to the Game | Old Classic | D.B. Pritchard | Faber 1973 |
| How to Play Go | Old Classic | Kaku Takagawa | Nihon Ki-in 1956 |
| The Game of Wei-Chi | Old Classic | Daniele Pecorini and Tong Shu | Longmans orig. 1929 |
| The Game of Go: the National Game of Japan | Old Classic | Arthur Smith | Tuttle 1956 orig. 1908 |
List produced December 2010 - Updated January 2017
Last updated Mon Oct 15 2018.
If you have any comments, please email the webmaster on web-master AT britgo DOT org.
If you have any comments, please email the webmaster on web-master AT britgo DOT org.