This volume is a continuation of Graded Go Problems For Beginners, Volume 2 and is aimed at the 20-kyu to 15-kyu player.


The problems presented here will require a bit of thought, but none of them is so difficult that a player who understands the rules, has had some experience playing games, and has studied the first and second volumes would not be able to solve in less than a minute.


Since the main aim of this series is to present as many examples of go technique as possible, I have avoided giving a lot of different variations of possible answers. Furthermore, the answers are sometimes abbreviated and not played out to the final conclusion. The reader is advised to play out these sequences to the end and attempt to 'refute' the correct answer until he knows beyond doubt that the correct answer works. In problems where there are numerous stone captures, the reader should play out the moves on a board. By pondering each problem in this way, the reader will develop an instinct for finding the winning move in his games.

Kano Yoshinori was born on April 14, 1928 in Kyoto and died on May 2, 1999. He came to Tokyo at the age of nine and became a disciple of Suzuki Hideko 5-dan. He became 1-dan in 1943 and in 1968 he attained the top rank of 9-dan. In 1948 he won the Young Professional's Championship, in 1955 he won the top section of the Oteai, and in 1961 he won the 5th Prime Minister's Cup. He played in the 14th, 20th, 25th, and 26th Honinbo leagues. In 1975 he went to Austria and Russia, then in 1979 he led a team of high school go players to China for a good will match. He graduated from the Japanese Literature Department of Japan University, making him one of the few professional go players to have graduated from university.