Life In 19x19

ChradH wrote:

Joaz Banbeck wrote:Just play san-san. Then it becomes your opponent's problem.

Now that's whole board thinking! Know the lay of the land*...

*quoted freely from General Tacticus' "The Art Of Go", of course

According to Sun Tzu, you should prefer the high ground....

It's a good sign when the lines and hoshi is elevated. It means that the ink was probably applied on top of the wood so that the wood isn't damaged at all. Usually the application of lacquer with a sword-like implementation is a sign of fine Japanese craftsmanship. It's much nicer than silk screened version and far far superior to versions which are actually grooves cut into the wood.

If you look carefully at the 4th picture of my goban here, you can see what I mean by fine Japanese craftsmanship. I think it adds flavor to the board. I don't think the Japanese intend for the stones to rest perfectly centered on each spot. Check the SL article on wabi sabi and you'll find that they want just the right sort of imperfection for their ideal aesthetic pleasures.

tchan001 wrote:If you look carefully at the 4th picture of my goban here, you can see what I mean by fine Japanese craftsmanship. I think it adds flavor to the board. I don't think the Japanese intend for the stones to rest perfectly centered on each spot. Check the SL article on wabi sabi and you'll find that they want just the right sort of imperfection for their ideal aesthetic pleasures.

Amen to that. The other thing about chinese-made Kaya boards is the tabletop laminate finish, which creates a harsh optical glare and higher-pitched "click" when compared to the clear finish and better resonance of a properly waxed surface.

“Recently, both in Japan and in the West, boards said to be made from Chinese kaya trees are being sold at very low prices. However, these are not really kaya, but a related species of kaya. These boards have a strong tendency to crack and warp. The surfaces are also prone to chapping or flaking.”

This is a quote off your blog, which quotes Kiseido. There's both truth and some questionable information here. It's true that the Kaya coming out of China is 'torreya grandis' as opposed to 'torreya nucifera'. However, I must question the assertion that torreya grandis has a tendency to crack and warp. From what I've seen, I believe that torreya grandis is so similar to nucifera as to be indistinguishable, and that the cracking and warping are a result of some Goban makers' rushed processes, which don't allow the wood sufficient time to cure. Kaya of both subspecies takes many years to cure properly, and it's a particular skill to the older Goban makers.

cthomas wrote:

tchan001 wrote:

“Recently, both in Japan and in the West, boards said to be made from Chinese kaya trees are being sold at very low prices. However, these are not really kaya, but a related species of kaya. These boards have a strong tendency to crack and warp. The surfaces are also prone to chapping or flaking.”

This is a quote off your blog, which quotes Kiseido. There's both truth and some questionable information here. It's true that the Kaya coming out of China is 'torreya grandis' as opposed to 'torreya nucifera'. However, I must question the assertion that torreya grandis has a tendency to crack and warp. From what I've seen, I believe that torreya grandis is so similar to nucifera as to be indistinguishable, and that the cracking and warping are a result of some Goban makers' rushed processes, which don't allow the wood sufficient time to cure. Kaya of both subspecies takes many years to cure properly, and it's a particular skill to the older Goban makers.

Thank you, Chuck, for mentioning this. That statement from Kiseido is indeed misleading. Granted the Chinese Kaya boards are not Hyuga Kaya from Japan, but that doesn't mean they are problematic boards as a result. I think Kiseido discredited themselves with that statement and I'll never buy a board from Kiseido because of that. Books, on the other hand, are an entirely different matter.

Granted the Chinese Kaya boards are not Hyuga Kaya from Japan, but that doesn't mean they are problematic boards as a result.

That's a good point. Economic pressures in China do create a manufacturing base that makes goods that are as inexpensive as possible - however, how can anyone apply this to a tree that's been growing in a Chinese forest since before the Norman invasion of England?

There's a unfair stigma associated with China - that everything Chinese must be bad and anything Japanese must be quality, but it's oversimplifying things. We have to remember that Chinese weiqi is still recovering from Mao's war on culture during the 60's, that defamed Go as one of the "four rotten pasts". People were forced into smashing up and burning some of the most beautiful and intricate works of art - I'm sure that many beautiful Go boards suffered the same fate. It takes time to recover from something like that.

There are hopeful signs of recovery already - the art of Yunzi has been rediscovered, for example. As the Chinese economy matures, I expect to see handmade Weiqi boards coming out of China, from independant artisans who rediscover and reinvent the ancient Chinese styles of Go equipment. We can all look forward to the renaissance of Chinese culture, especially as concerns Go. A nation with so rich a cultural heritage doesn't deserve anything less.

I have posted on my blog an updated entry on the Japanese book "Goban and Shogiban – Creating Game Equipment" with some scans about the creation of goban lines. I think it is very appropriate for those interested in this thread. Enjoy