Life In 19x19

Sounds like I'll be getting the Kurokigoishi board then! You guys have been immensely helpful.

So with a board like this, what size of stones would be ideal?

Thickness and material are an individual's preference so there is no wrong answer. I'd stay away from plastic unless they are weighted like Ing stones. yunzi stones are nice, as are some of the glass stones made in Korea by various labels. You probably don't want slate and shell. It is a lot of expense and a lot of workmanship for something in a backpack. I myself have 7.5mm glass stones for travel as they are less bulky and I have slate and shell for home use.

yeah, as a traveling set, I'd recommend Ing stones (https://www.yutopian.com/go/stone/st060.html) for the durability. You can store them in more portable containers if you'd like.

For casual play (and assuming you're not using Ing fillin counting), you'd only need about 150 stones each (rather than the full set of 180)

The durability won't be as good as the Ing stones, but the stones from the Intrepid go set (the go bento box) have a pretty nice feel and are very compact. You will want something to wrap around the box to keep it closed if you go that route, though. You should also be aware that the set includes 160 stones of each color instead of a full complement of 180. Despite the drawbacks, I find it to be a nice set of travel stones.

I still love my olden beechwood veneer board with magnetic hinge — and it’s reversible, with a 13x13 grid on the back side.



http://www.hebsacker-verlag.de/buchenfu ... r-p-7.html

This is in Germany, but they may also ship to the USA – ask them via contact link, they’re friendly.

Bonobo wrote:I still love my olden beechwood veneer board with magnetic hinge

Hi Bonobo,

The magnetic hinge is very nice and clever. A nice portable board.

Do you happen to know the exact dimensions of the grid lines.
That is, from A1 to T1, and from A1 to A19, in mm.
Also, are they squares or rectangles ( based on the Japanese design ) ?
The website shows the veneer dimensions of 455 x 420 x 13 mm,
which gives me hope that they are rectangles.

Thanks.

EdLee wrote:

Bonobo wrote:I still love my olden beechwood veneer board with magnetic hinge

Hi Bonobo,

The magnetic hinge is very nice and clever. A nice portable board.

Do you happen to know the exact dimensions of the grid lines.
That is, from A1 to T1, and from A1 to A19, in mm.
Also, are they squares or rectangles ( based on the Japanese design ) ?
The website shows the veneer dimensions of 455 x 420 x 13 mm,
which gives me hope that they are rectangles.

Thanks.

If you take a closer look at the pictures (can be enlarged), I think you can see they are rectangles.
Else, just ask the seller. It is a very friendly shop.

sssilver wrote:Such wonderful options, thank you guys!

So between Nintendo, Kurokigoishi, the Intrepid set, and the spruce board, which one is the better board?

Last year, I bought a full size portable go board which I think is just what you are looking for.
I bought it second hand (old?) using Buyee to bid on Yahoo Japan auction. It is very sturdy, very good to take outside, to a bar, coffee shop, the park or other.
Yes, it is folding, but the surface is completely flat laid open, no hinges in sight and no gap. It is made of very hard wood too, good for outdoor/travel, and 2 cm thick, solid. As it was second hand, it was not expensive.
If Kuroki is not able to deliver, you might want to use Yahoo/Buyee (but be careful what to bid for).

sssilver wrote: So with a board like this, what size of stones would be ideal?

I agree that there are not Right Aswers, but 8 to 9 is good for portable set.

I like glass paste: a good feeling and nice looking at a reasonable cost.

Another nice and very traditional option are the Yunzi stones: the secret chinese formula!
You can find some good reviews of Yellow Mountains sets with wooden bowls.

KurokiGoishi is the first choice coming to equipment, but IMHO the importation from Japan can be costy, especially for a travel set. This is my "always with me" bamboo set with size 9 glass stones from Hebsacker Verlag
The goban is foldable and the central line is not traced: you have a near perfect optic illusion just from the small gap of the joining of the 2 folding parts Enjoy!

oh, I totally forgot about my other folding board... if you live in a town with a large enough Korean population, you might find an H-Mart store (kinda like our K-Mart -- assuming US)

They carry a very inexpensive and very portable folding board and stones. $10 for the board and $10 for the stones.

Its not a full size board, but its not too small and still quite playable. I think the stones are 18mm (about the size of a good, large magnetic set). A slightly larger size would still work, but the typical smaller 21mm may be too big.

I've founds the exact same set on the 6brothers site before, but I have trouble navigating in Korean.
(ha... found my previous post: http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewto ... ers#p58696 but my links are old and dead)

The board is thin, maybe 1/4 inch or 3/8, and all mdf. It does not lay completely flat. So it may not be pretty, but its functional, light weight and very portable.

At $20 a set, I've bought several and have given them away as gifts.

I have a very useful slotted board, 1" thick made of agathis wood, bought 35 years ago. Back then these boards could be bought at practically every go equipment vendor, Ishi Press (then) for example. Given that there seems to be a demand for these boards I'm surprised that they are not available, and I wonder why. Is it that the price would have to be too high now? I can't remember what I paid for it, probably something like $30.

I bought my first board from the Nihon Kiin while in Japan. It's a beautiful Agathis piece with 19x19 on one side and 13 x 13 on the other. With shipping and the favorable exchange rate, it should fit your budget.

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/nihonkiin/006a/

Erythen wrote:I bought my first board from the Nihon Kiin while in Japan. It's a beautiful Agathis piece with 19x19 on one side and 13 x 13 on the other. With shipping and the favorable exchange rate, it should fit your budget.

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/nihonkiin/006a/

This looks like the same type of board I have. It is thick enough not to warp easily. It is somewhat expensive at about $85 plus shipping but, in my opinion, it is superior to the folding boards.

I don't know whether you have ever, for some reason had to move a game in progress. That's happened to me at home or at the club. If you have a folding board it adds one more risk of ruining the position. If you have a slotted board like the one linked in Erythen's post there is no danger of the board folding when you don't want it to.

Ed,

EdLee wrote:[..]
Do you happen to know the exact dimensions of the grid lines.

I didn't, but I just measured it

[..]
Also, are they squares or rectangles ( based on the Japanese design ) ?

The grid dimensions are 394×420 mm, which answers both questions.

I’ve played standard size stones on it w/o problems that I remember (other than those my opponents gave me ).

As much as I still love this board (it was my first own “real” board, i.e. not cardboard), one should know that, since this is beechwood veneer, its core is chipwood, therefore the inside edges that hold the magnet strip should NEVER get wet, otherwise the chipwood will swell up and ultimately the board will be broken.


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Also, I really like the board Erythen linked to:

Erythen wrote:http://item.rakuten.co.jp/nihonkiin/006a/

If anybody knows a European vendor that offers this I’d be happy to learn about it.

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