Life In 19x19

Posted: **Wed Nov 13, 2013 6:40 am**

I am still a new player and on a rather limited budget so while looking at go sets that is always in the back of my mind. I also want something that is going to last me a little while before I feel a need to upgrade.

http://www.ymimports.com/p-2352-bamboo- ... oN_6vlOONY

This is what I am about 90% sure I am going to get.

Has anyone used a bamboo goban before? I know the yunzi stones are supposed to be good quality and I have played with them before and loved the feel and wieght.

I guess my big concern is are the seams distracting? Is there a large risk of it curving out and coming apart compared to a solid say agathis or shin-kaya board?

Posted: **Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:18 am**

jmonroe wrote:I am still a new player and on a rather limited budget so while looking at go sets that is always in the back of my mind. I also want something that is going to last me a little while before I feel a need to upgrade.

http://www.ymimports.com/p-2352-bamboo- ... oN_6vlOONY

This is what I am about 90% sure I am going to get.

Has anyone used a bamboo goban before? I know the yunzi stones are supposed to be good quality and I have played with them before and loved the feel and wieght.

I guess my big concern is are the seams distracting? Is there a large risk of it curving out and coming apart compared to a solid say agathis or shin-kaya board?

I have a 3/4" bamboo go board from YMI. I like it, but there are a few caveats: First, it's got a varnish of some sort on it, which can be scratched, and which makes it look fairly dark to my eye. You don't see the seams too much, but where the bamboo has joints in the stalk, you get a weird grain pattern that you may or may not like. If you look at the last picture on the page you linked, you can see how the grain turns rough or broken for an inch, then continues straight. Second, I have heard reports of the boards coming apart and splitting or cracking, though this has not happened to me. I'm not sure if this is due to changes in humidity or what. Third, bamboo is quite heavy, in case you intend to move this around frequently. You may find you'd prefer a thinner board in bamboo, as the layering means that thickness isn't as necessary for the stability of the block, like it is with wood and especially single-piece wood boards.

I'm quite satisfied with my stones, which are 9.2mm double convex yunzi from them as well. I have not had any problems with breakage, and voids in the black stones (visible with backlighting) are infrequent. That may depend on the batch, though.

I don't have any experience with their bowls.

Edit:
One more thing: bamboo is quite hard, as far as woods for go-boards go. Compared to spruce, which has a janka rating of maybe 400-500, bamboo is around 1400. It won't dent, and it will make a much harder clicking sound when stones are placed. I've never done it, but it's conceivable that a stone could be broken by playing it with significant force, especially if it has a void or other weakness.

Posted: **Wed Nov 13, 2013 9:29 am**

I have the 3/4" YMI bamboo board and 8.8mm yunzi double convex stones with bamboo bowls. I love the set and have been very pleased with it. My only complaint has been the lids of the bamboo bowls have several imperfections in them, but I'm not that upset.

I don't find the seams to be distracting. Once I'm playing I don't notice them. I had thought I might not like them, but then I warmed up to the idea because I thought: "After years of play, I'll be able to tell my board apart from others because I'll know every joint, every seam, every detail" and I thought that would be cool. Instead, I don't even notice the seams and joints when I'm playing, so that isn't happening.

My profile picture at the moment is my set.

Posted: **Wed Nov 13, 2013 10:49 am**

I echo the other comments here. I had that same 2-inch board from YMI for a few years--I gave it to a friend when I changed jobs. It was in my office, and looked nice. It didn't get tons of use--I had it in part for decoration (and it was always interesting when someone actually knew what it was). I think I saw a small crack starting to form. As I recall, it was there for about a year before I gave it away, and it never got worse. The varnish is susceptible to scratches, though it takes a bit of force. I don't recall any major scratches on the surface, but the bottom was pretty well scuffed (not that I really cared). As skydr said, it was pretty dang heavy.

I was generally happy with it. I gave it away primarily because I wanted to treat myself to a nice upgrade to go along with my new job--I got a one piece Kaya board from Mr. Kuroki, along with some shell/slate stones ("B grade", which I'm totally happy with).

A handful of people coming to my office (both old and new) have recognized them as go boards, and a couple have known the basic rules of how to play.* I've had my kaya board for a few months now, and even people unfamiliar with the game comment on how beautiful it is. But I'm still waiting for the day someone asks "is that a kaya board"? Not so I can brag, but because I'll know I have a new friend.

*As an aside, it is interesting how many people show genuine fascination and interest in the game, and even want me to teach them the rules. It seems paradoxical to me--based on the conversations I've had, I would expect more people to be go players.

Posted: **Wed Nov 13, 2013 10:57 am**

judicata wrote: *As an aside, it is interesting how many people show genuine fascination and interest in the game, and even want me to teach them the rules. It seems paradoxical to me--based on the conversations I've had, I would expect more people to be go players.

We had a few people come into our club this week while they were waiting for some other meeting at the church to end. We got them started with just the capturing game and they seemed to have a lot of fun without much input from us, other than our being available if they had questions. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the problems people have with teaching is trying to explain too much (and not having two beginners at the same time).

Posted: **Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:07 am**

skydyr wrote:one of the problems people have with teaching is trying to explain too much

Yes, this is standard.

Posted: **Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:26 pm**

skydyr wrote:
judicata wrote: *As an aside, it is interesting how many people show genuine fascination and interest in the game, and even want me to teach them the rules. It seems paradoxical to me--based on the conversations I've had, I would expect more people to be go players.
We had a few people come into our club this week while they were waiting for some other meeting at the church to end. We got them started with just the capturing game and they seemed to have a lot of fun without much input from us, other than our being available if they had questions. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the problems people have with teaching is trying to explain too much (and not having two beginners at the same time).

I suspect that's true. My comment wasn't really aimed at teaching, though. Rather, based on my anecdotal experience, I would expect more people to want to learn how to play and would continue playing after learning. Some of it is lack of exposure, but it doesn't explain everything.

Posted: **Sat Nov 30, 2013 5:34 pm**

judicata wrote:I suspect that's true. My comment wasn't really aimed at teaching, though. Rather, based on my anecdotal experience, I would expect more people to want to learn how to play and would continue playing after learning. Some of it is lack of exposure, but it doesn't explain everything.

Lack of exposure is one factor that works against the popularization of Go, but failure to let the novice learn Go in a natural way is another - and one that is often overlooked.

I was thinking if, instead of pointing out mistakes and exhorting novices to get rid of them as as soon as possible, it would be better to simply let the novices play the "erroneous" way at first, complete with playing inside territories, forming dumpling groups, and all, only giving advice when the novice asks for it. This can be done when novices play Capture Go on a 9x9 board. After a few weeks of playing capture Go, players should be able to at least form some uncapturable groups, but there remains the big question.

When does one stop playing?

Even after players are able to make uncapturable groups, if they do not know when to stop, have them play on until a minimum number of stones is captured - even if it means playing inside one's own territory. After a few rounds of doing this, the novice will find that playing past a certain point only results in the capture of a group and so develop an idea of when to stop playing.

Life In 19x19

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