Since we've had a problem with "sliding" (especially among kids) at the Seattle Go Center tournaments, we've had to define in our tournament rules what pros do as "stylistic-sliding" and only allow that type -- as long as it doesn't get out of hand and evolve into the "slide around the board until you find a good position to play it" move.

Only if you're using Ing rules.
Otherwise 30+ extras -- as only a minimum of 150 stones each are typically needed for a full game.

I never had the problem, so this is only my first impression
IMHO as long as you do not leave the stone, you can slide it: this is kind of necessary to avoid to move other stones in crowded positions.
On the other hand, there are bad habits that have to be fought: http://senseis.xmp.net/?DanglingAStoneAboveTheBoardWhileThinking

Galation

_________________
When you play Weiqi you are joining millions of people across four thousand years of time.
Jonathan Hop - So You Want to Play Go?

Nothing about any rules.
There's the loss of stones (over time).
Also, it's not uncommon to run out of even the full 361 stones.
Example: KGT sets come with 2 spares for each color (183 and 182 )

Some shirts also come with 1 or 2 spare buttons.

I agree that sliding feels good. And most of the time is not controversial - the example I brought up (move six on the youtube video) is at such an early stage of the game that no one would question where Iyama intended to move. But his move is clearly on the 5-2 point, and then he slides it up to the 5-3 point. How does this jive with various rulesets?

From AGA's Concise Rules...
2) Play: The players alternate in moving, with Black playing first. In handicap games, White moves first after Black has placed his or her handicap stones. A move consists in playing a stone of one's color on an empty intersection (including edges and corners), or in passing.

Perhaps the rule doesn't speak precisely enough about stone placement. But one could certainly interpret it to mean sliding is not allowed.

We have a choice of millimeters^(*) in the rules, or common sense.







___________
^(*) Somewhere between 3x10^-21 m and 30 mm.

I just watched the whole thing. Thanks for the link!

I really prefer the thicker stones, same as you. They look more satisfying on the board, and the weight feels nice in my hand. I decided to buy size 37 yuki grade stones from Erythen's ebay listing (shoutout to him, he's a fair seller with good prices). I am eagerly awaiting their arrival.

I don't mind a bit of wobbling. There's a certain appealing aesthetic to when you play a big point, and the stone is left wobbling for just a moment, as if to punctuate the strength behind the move.

As for board dimples, I wonder from what I have seen of people at my club, if it's the case that many go players slam down their stones too hard. Of course, it looks pretty exciting in hikaru no go, to smash the stones like the board owes you money. But when I play I find the experience a bit softer, more tranquil than slamming the stone into the wood would allow for.

I suppose this is off topic by now

Hi Christopher,

Photos please, whrn they arrive.

How big are the stones used in that video? 38 or 36? (And in general in the NHK games/videos.)

Another question: I know it’s not recommended to use agathis board with shell stones. I am considering getting Moon grade stones from Kurokigoishi. Would an agathis board really damage them? What about a shin kaya board. (I am trying to save up for a kaya, but I figured I’d get nice stones first.)

I heard Mr. Cho Chikun's favorite size is 38.
If he had any say, it would be 38.
I cannot tell from watching the NHK videos alone.I have two Japanese shin kaya (agathis?) boards,
and I pair them up both with Kuroki shell sets.
No problem at all.

( Yes -- if you slam the slate stones down with the intention to damage the board, or,
if you slam the shell stones down with the intention to break the stones,
you will succeed, eventually.

If you drink enough water, you can also inflict on yourself severe, possibly even fatal, damage.
)

Shin Kaya is Spruce, I think. Agathis is much harder, and not generally as pretty. Perhaps Katsura is another possibility -- it's a bit darker than spruce, and not as dense as Agathis, from what I've seen.

Yes, Shin-Kaya is spruce, generally of the Alaskan variety. It's a bit softer than Agathis and better suited for shell stones.

I'll second the recommendation for Katsura. Aside from Kaya, it's my favorite board wood. The disadvantage to Katsura is that it's always itame (irregular grain) so a little more prone to warping if improperly cared for.

I think I will just add a question onto this thread, as it's similar:

With the new blossom grade at Kuriokigoishi, what is the closest equivalent to the old "moon" grade, such as my set here:

[img]http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160602/e6042fe6c5f945fcee76401e0ba1b2ce.jpg[/img]

I bought these probably 18 years ago from Mr. Kuroki.

Based on my very unscientific extensive examination of go stones, I have come to the conclusion that Blossom grade are actually a mix of tsuki and jitsuyo stones. The closest you can get to tsuki is actually buying tsuki grade stones from another vendor.

Maybe it's the same as in Chess; that the stone (piece) has not been played until released?

Personally, I wouldn't have any problems with an opponent placing moves like Mr. Iyama does in minute 6. In Chess, some people pick up a piece and place it on the target square, others slide it there, if possible.

I gather it would be impolite to realize that a move would be bad and then start to slide the stone around the board to a completely different location. Same in Chess: it's impolite to start move, then realize it would be a good on, and then keep the piece 'dangling' while looking for a better place to put it.

Page on sorting @ Mr. Kuroki



I've also read over here that they had a "Standard" grade in the past. Would this mean the following?

Old grades:
- Snow
- Moon
- Flower
- Standard

It would mean that Mr. Kuroki had an extra grade between Moon and Standard/Jitsuyo.

This page tells about the change in stone lines, where it also says that the number of sizes were reduced.

Well, if Mr. Kuroki is unable to obtain enough shells to create both the Moon and Flower grades, he would either need to 'discard' a lot of 'almost there' Moon stones into the Flower grade. By combining Moon and Flower into Blossom, he can make a lot more stones in that grade, and it sits just in between the older Moon and Flower grades. Then Jitsuyo would become the Blue Label.

I could also be wrong, and the situation could be like this:

Old grades:
- Snow
- Moon
- Flower (Standard/Jitsuyo)

Now, if Mr. Kuroki can't create enough 'true' Moon grade stones, he could use half a set of 'true' Moon grade stones, and fill it up with Flower grade stones, which would make Blossom; the remaining Flower stones would then be used for Blue Label.

I don't know for sure. I'm not around long enough in the higher end go equipment scene; it's only been a few weeks, and it's a bit hard puzzling together several years of information and product line changes

Seems reasonable. I would assume the "moon" grade would be priced between "snow" and "blossom", agreed?

Another subtitle question is, perhaps yesterday's "moon" is today's "snow"?

Yes.

Moon is rated higher than Flower, and Blossom is a combination of these two, thus logically Blossom must be in between them. If the combination is 50/50, Blossom is halfway between Moon and Flower.

The order would now be Snow >> (Moon, if you can get them) >> Blossom (partly moon, partly flower) >> Flower.



Probably not, at this time. That would be a HUGE price increase and a very large quality decrease.

I just think that Mr. Kuroki can not produce enough Moon-grade stones to make it worthwhile to keep doing it. In this case, too many stones would just fall short of Moon grade, but not enough to keep the Flower grade going. 'Discarding' these very good but just-not-quite-there stones into the Blue label would not be wise. By combining the two grades, Mr. Kuroki has double the number of stones to make sets.

It depends on how you look at it: Mr. Kuroki either decreased the Moon grade quality, or increased the Flower grade quality.

At some point, however, you would end up being correct.

I think that at some point in the future, not enough shells will be available to keep the Snow grade up to par at current production. If that happens, the prices will become even higher, or the quality of the grade will decrease by creating a Snow/Moon combination. Maybe the name will change. Obviously, the Blossom grade, which is a Moon/Flower combination, will then have less Moon grade stones available, and thus the Blossom grade will eventually also decrease in quality.

edit: This page on Sensei's library says:

Japanese clams: Snow >> Moon >> Flower
Mexican clams: Snow >> Moon >> Standard

I don't know if in the past at Mr. Kuroki's Flower == Standard, or that Flower >> Standard.