Just the stones

[tekesta]

I would like to know where I can buy 22mm single convex stones in porcelain or hard plastic. (I decided against yunzi since the recipients of these stones will be abusing them some of the time.) I do not need the boards since I will be making these myself.

I have a friend to whom I promised 5 go sets for his and his friends' use. They prefer to play outdoors on the sidewalk, which means that the boards and stones will be roughed up some. (For this I suggested placing the board on a towel or cloth when playing on a rough surface.) I let him and his friends play with a set of bakelite stones that I had and they got scratched up and chipped, so I decided to get stones made from a more resistant material.

[fireproof]

Have you looked at the "Cheap Go Game Set" from Go Game Guru? They look to be single-convex.

https://shop.gogameguru.com/cheap-go-game-set/

[sybob]

??
"The recipients of these stones will be abusing them some of the time"??

Apart from yunzi not being preferred, you are probably not looking for porcelain. That's some vulnerable material, more than glass. Did you know: yunzi can endure some misuse, better than glass? Plastic or some alternative material would be best for your purpose I think.

[skydyr]

They're double sided, but ing stones are good cheap stones that can deal with some scratching.

[tekesta]

Some of the time the intended recipients play outdoors and in the alley where they live the street is narrow, paved with a rough asphalt, and has some potholes and protruding manhole covers. There is no sidewalk there, so they play right on the street. Fortunately very few cars pass through. It's mostly bicycles and motorcycles passing through. One of them played with a Cheap Go Set that I purchased from Gogameguru.com and the bakelite stones were scratched up, with 3 or 4 being chipped.

If Yunzi can take some abuse, then maybe I should consider purchasing some. I remember having a set of porcelain stones earlier in my Go career and they were rather durable, although they would break when subjected to hard impact against a tile floor or other hard surface. I looked around for melamine or "antibacterial plastic" stones, but these are not very easy to find. Melamine stones are not available from YMimports.com at the moment. Antibacterial stones seem to resist scratching well, but as of late they have not been easy to find. If anyone here has a source for them, I would appreciate it greatly.

I prefer the single-convex stones since they do not move around as much as the double-convex ones.

If all else fails, I will have to buy more Cheap Go Sets from gogameguru.com. The plastic stones in this set have a good heft to them, but they do not seem to resist scratching too well, thus prompting me to seek stones made of more resistant material.

[tentano]

You must be teaching rock elementals or something like that.

You've got some pretty rough customers, anyway.

[tekesta]

Well, I started them off on liberties and capture and explained how these two things are the basis of all that happens in a game of Go. I even briefly explained to them that the reason one plays first near the corners on the 19 board is that there it is easiest to make a group large enough to avoid being captured. Of course this was beyond them at the time, but I trust that once they become more advanced in skill they will remember this bit of info.

BTW my friends do not live in the US, but in the Dominican Republic. I got back from there last Saturday afternoon after a stay of 19 days. Go is practically unknown in that country. I am sure there are some Go players in DR, but I have not met anyone there that plays the game, so I think that I did a good thing by teaching it to my Dominican friends.

I could ask them to buy their own Go equipment online or even to improvise, but neither is feasible at the moment. Shipping stuff to DR is expensive, since insured shipping is often desired to avoid loss of the item. (It is not uncommon for merchandise to get lost while in transit.) I looked at Gogameguru.com's Cheap Go Set on eBay.com . The set was cheap enough at USD$9.99, but the shipping to DR was a whopping USD$50. I imagine this was insured shipping, since this is the default option in a country in which stolen goods are sold on many street corners. As well, I did suggest getting a large number of bottle caps and painting them white and black, but I doubt they would be so industrious since my Dominican friends have relatives living in foreign countries, sending them fine domino sets and poker card decks, among other things.

I calculated the purchase of 5 complete Go sets (board + stones) on different websites, but I concluded it would be cheaper to buy just the stones and make the boards myself. I doubt my friends will be too finicky about the choice of board. I've seen them play poker using just a bit of hardboard held over the thighs as a table.

[tentano]

It's disheartening that even giving things to specific people is hard in some countries, unless you go there yourself to hand it to them personally.

It's a very old and certain truth, though. Being poor tends to be expensive.

[tekesta]

It's disheartening that even giving things to specific people is hard in some countries, unless you go there yourself to hand it to them personally.

It's a very old and certain truth, though. Being poor tends to be expensive.

Expensive for me as well. Definitely sucks, but that's the reality I have to face. Fortunately, in my city (Miami, FL, U.S. of A.) there are companies that specialise in shipping to Dominican Republic and other places in Central America and the Caribbean. They are relatively cheap and secure, but slow since things are sent by ship and that takes about 10-20 days for the parcel to get to its destination. As well I can send light packages through DHL or TNT. More expensive, but more secure and quicker as well.

And if all else fails I will just have to wait until I fly again to DR and take a few Go sets with me.

[xed_over]

but slow since things are sent by ship and that takes about 10-20 days for the parcel to get to its destination.
...
...
And if all else fails I will just have to wait until I fly again to DR and take a few Go sets with me.

are you planning a trip in less than 10-20 days? (of course, the personal touch is much more enjoyable)

[tekesta]

are you planning a trip in less than 10-20 days? (of course, the personal touch is much more enjoyable)

No, I will not be going there so soon. (I wish Dominican Republic is a really nice place. Have you gone to Punta Cana? Really nice resorts and beaches.) Rather, I am planning to go there some time in July. DR is as hot and humid as any tropical country tends to be in summer, but airfares to the Caribbean from MIA and other US major city airports tend to be lower in the summer than they would be in the winter travel season. I could not purchase fares for December or January due to the high demand during those months. When I go there, I stay with friends rather than in a hotel. DR has hotels for different tastes, from moderately priced small hotels with less than 50 rooms to big ones like Iberostar and old ones such as Hotel Santo Domingo. However, spending time in close proximity to the locals can be a real treat.

I still find it a bit odd that Go does not seem to be well known in Dominican Republic, expect maybe among the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean minorities living therein. The game has a moderate presence in Cuba and at the University of Puerto Rico in Bayamón, PR there is a Go club. (I heard that they have been defunct for some time.)

The game of dominoes is played almost everywhere in DR and elsewhere in the Caribbean, but they have only been around since the early part of the 20th century and were introduced from the US. American cultural influence is very strong in the Caribbean, probably even more so than the historical European influence there. People still speak Spanish, English, and creole French in the region and much of the colonial past can be seen in the dress, cuisine, and customs of the people, but almost everyone follows US cultural trends there, especially in the Greater Antilles; whenever I visit DR my friends ask me about life in the US and more than a few of them want to learn English.

My hope is that once my friends receive those Go sets they will play and study frequently. At least this way I will not need to take a Go set with me when I travel to DR. If the number of new Go players grows then I will consider sending more sets and learning materials. For now, though, 5 sets and a few books are all I will be sending.

[tekesta]

I have given some thought to the stone material issue and decided that, unless I can find stones made of melamine, porcelain, or other scratch-resistant material, I may have to go to Gogameguru.com and buy a few Cheap Go Sets. The plastic stones therein have a good feel to them and don't chip easily, but have only some scratch resistance. I've had one of my stones fall onto asphalt and get deeply scratched. My friends in DR that were using them are not toddlers that like to throw things around, of course, but whenever they play outdoors it's by the side of the street and things sometimes fall onto the asphalt, and that asphalt has a very rough gravel mixed into it.

I would like to add to this edit that I discovered Gogameguru.com is not selling Yunzi stones at the moment due to high levels of lead compounds found in some shipments. (I wonder if this is just a surface coating that contains lead compounds that can be removed through washing with soap and water or with a light oil.) Since my friends in Dominican Republic live in a neighborhood located next to a dairy factory, I would not want them to be exposed to any more lead-based substances than they might already be encountering on a daily basis.

Also - and I believe this is a more important concern when living in a poor country - Yunzi are very pretty to look at, so I fear that they might be stolen from their intended recipients and turned into pricey trinkets.

I forgot to consider urea stones. I've seen these in biconvex 20mm dia. Anyone know where I can find single-convex urea stones in 22 mm diameter? Much obliged in advance.

[i3ullseye]

Just a thought.

I want to have a quick and dirty set to keep in the car, and maybe even make a few quick 9x9 sets for friends and such. Ignoring the boards, which may be roll out mats and such, I have an idea for stone.

My local dollar stores have glass stones, sort of like for fish tanks of plant vases and such. Some are translucent, some are opaque, etc. At $1 a bag of about 100, and easily available tupperware type bowls for $1 or less... I think I have a quick and cheap solution, no matter how much abuse they might take, or how many might end up lost. Sure, good stones are more aesthetically pleasing. But glass beads are a nice cheap solution I think.

[xed_over]

My local dollar stores have glass stones, sort of like for fish tanks of plant vases and such. Some are translucent, some are opaque, etc.

I used those for my first set.

[tekesta]

How about plain plastic buttons of 7/8 inch diameter? Not the best feel for the fingers, but these can be found readily and even purchased cheaply. Small casino chips will also work.

Also, if you have a friend handy with a machine saw, you can have him/her cut 1/4 inch discs from a wooden dowel of the desired diameter, then stain them black and white, green and yellow, or whatever two colors you desire. Make sure the dowel is of a heavy wood or it will crack. If this is a concern for you, you can choose instead dowels made of a hard plastic material.