This episode is from All Things Go, a podcast about the board game Go, also known as Baduk in Korea and Weiqi in China.
Episode Summary
Gunnar Dickfeld, the publisher behind BOARD N'STONES, joins Travis for a wide-ranging conversation about how Go books get made and why he has spent more than two decades bringing Go literature to German- and English-speaking readers. Gunnar traces his path from discovering Go as a teenager and studying Sinology to teaching beginners, writing his first books, and eventually building a small publishing operation around the game.
They talk about the practical side of publishing in a niche community: deciding which books are worth translating, working across Japanese, Chinese, Korean, German, and English, navigating licensing, and knowing when a project simply is not worth pursuing. Gunnar also discusses recent titles including Ueno Asami's Play Like the Hammer Princess, Shin Jin-seo's My Go Journey, SEVEN, How to Play Go the AI Way!, and Cosmic Go.
The conversation broadens into the future of Go books, the growth of digital teaching, the limits of volunteer-driven Go communities in the West, and Gunnar's view that the game itself is not the problem. What matters is the infrastructure around it: places to play, ways to learn, and communities that help people stay connected to Go.
Resources
- BOARD N'STONES - Gunnar Dickfeld’s English-language Go publishing catalog, including books on professional games, AI, tsumego, Go history, and instruction.
- Play Like the Hammer Princess - Ueno Asami’s book on fighting Go and attacking large groups, whose English edition led Travis to discover Gunnar’s work.
- My Go Journey - Shin Jin-seo’s personal account of his development as a Go player, including commentary on games from his remarkable Nongshim Cup run.
- How to Play Go the AI Way! - Yamada Shinji’s introduction to modern AI-influenced Go, which Gunnar discusses as one of the books he is particularly proud to have published.
- Cosmic Go - Takemiya Masaki’s classic exploration of his center-oriented “cosmic” style, brought back into print in English by BOARD N'STONES.
Full transcript, related episodes, and additional resources:
https://allthingsgogame.com
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Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastAC
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Email: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com
Episode Sponsors
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