Life In 19x19

I'd be interested in a small yet not-cheap-looking (the classier the better) 19x19 board to sit in my office to generally a) impress/repulse people with my refined taste in games or intense nerddom depending on their perspective, and b) draw in unsuspecting passerbys with a moment of time to waste and explain the game to them.

Any recs?

(edit--I realize there are limits on how small a 19x19 board can plausibly be without being an aesthetic nightmare or unplayable. I'd be interested in the best of this genre, if such a thing exists, or just a good quality, decorative type 13x13/9x9/whatever.)

Miniature but functional go sets have been marketed by Kuroki Goishi Ten in Japan. See this web site: http://shop.kurokigoishi.co.jp/en/category/0908

They are sold out as of now but perhaps they will restock at some point. On their website there is an opportunity to send questions. Writing in English will get a response, perhaps a little delayed due to translation.

If you wish to impress, a conventional set will do the job better than anything else: wooden bowls, 9mm glass stones, 50cm table board. The miniature sets at KGT http://shop.kurokigoishi.co.jp/en/category/0908are not really practical, more of a collector’s item. I handled one at a go Congress many, many years ago. Not recommended. The only other smallish sets are from Japanese and Chinese toy makers. Stones are usually plastic which makes them hard to control.
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Korea-b ... es&sr=1-33
https://www.amazon.com/WE-Games-Wood-Pu ... mes&sr=1-4

You can spend hours on eBay trying to find go equipment.

These 13x13 and 9x9 sets seem to be very nice :

http://www.jeuxdumonde.com/product_info ... cts_id=690
http://www.jeuxdumonde.com/product_info ... cts_id=807

Pio2001 wrote:These 13x13 and 9x9 sets seem to be very nice :

http://www.jeuxdumonde.com/product_info ... cts_id=690
http://www.jeuxdumonde.com/product_info ... cts_id=807

Seems to be the same ...

https://www.go-spiele.de/en/9x9-table-s ... eered.html
https://www.go-spiele.de/en/13x13-table ... eered.html

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Small-Size-Yan ... SwRLBcUENt

(I couldn't find the exact dimensions, so hard to say for sure if it would nicely fit on a desk)

There is a german wooden toy manufacturer called Goki. They produce(d?) a small 19x19 Go set with drawers for the stones. When I bought it, it was approx. 20€-30€ (including stones).
It is small, that makes playing feel a bit strange. But, the set looks actually quite nice (my wife considers this to be the best looking goban I own) and the stones have a nice touch and make a nice sound (for the money). So if you are in Europe, you should get this easily via, e.g., Amazon. There are maybe ebay sellers who ship internationally.
Here you can find a picture: https://www.didacto.com/jeux-classiques ... 69163.html

The least expensive of Kuroki Goishi's "miniature" sets (http://shop.kurokigoishi.co.jp/en/item/460) costs almost $600USD before shipping. It is adverized: "you can actually play with this set". The reason it is so expensive is that the board is made of real kaya wood and the stones are slate and shell. I think it would be very impressive, if that is your goal. Kuroki stocks these sets periodically so you'd have to wait until it is back in stock.

gowan wrote:The least expensive of Kuroki Goishi's "miniature" sets (http://shop.kurokigoishi.co.jp/en/item/460) costs almost $600USD before shipping. It is adverized: "you can actually play with this set". The reason it is so expensive is that the board is made of real kaya wood and the stones are slate and shell. I think it would be very impressive, if that is your goal. Kuroki stocks these sets periodically so you'd have to wait until it is back in stock.

The stones in this set are about 0.59 inch in width, compare to standard Japanese stones at around 0.82 inch in diameter. IMO this set would be a pleasure to use in playing through game records or even playing an actual game.