Go Online

Let's Go Shopping!
June 16, 2003
By Roy Laird

My editor tells me we have many new readers, and some of you have been wondering about equipment. This is a deep subject, and since the best equipment is more readily available online than in most local stores, let's go shopping! Your enjoyment will depend in part on having the best equipment you can get. The smooth, golden surface of the board; the soothing coolness of the stone in your hand; the satisfying click as it takes up its post on the board; these things are as much a part of go as the game itself. 

How can you get a good basic set? For starters, forget anything produced by the big Western commercial game manufacturers. Boards are too hard, too soft, the wrong proportion. Stones are often too small for the intersection, so a line of stone looks like birds on a wire. They've been making go equipment in China, Korea and Japan for hundreds, even thousands of years. Those folks have it all figured out. Four US-based companies -- Ishi Press, Kiseido, Samarkand and Yutopian -- import Asian equipment. Each maintains a detailed website and an extensive inventory of boards, stones, bowls, clocks, books and accessories. You can link to them from our distributor page at http://www.usgo.org/resources/distributors.asp, where you will also find several other sources for interesting Go-related merchandise.

For the cost of a decent computer game, you can own equipment that will add to your enjoyment every time you play. Samarkand offers complete sets starting at $30. Ishi Press has a decent basic set for $40. At Yutopian and Kiseido, it's more a la carte, nut you can come away good basic equipment for $50 or less.

What to think about when selecting your set:

Board: Look for a wooden board, which gives the stones a nice resonance when they strike. The grid stands out well on a light-colored, fine-grained surface. Some boards have a 19x19 on one side and 13x13 on the other, if you enjoy "fast go." One-piece boards can be rather unwieldy so some boards fold in half. Others fit together with slots. Slotted boards are a little better -- you don't have the hinge making a hump in the middle of the board -- and more expensive (of course). Vinyl roll-up boards are good for storage and travel, but playing on them is like tap dancing in a swamp. Ishi press used to sell the ultimate budget board -- it was made of contact paper. The idea was, cut plywood to size and glue on, for about $3.

Some do-it-yourselfers take the most economical route and make their own boards, but take note: Go boards are not supposed to be square! The grid should be slightly longer than it is wide, so that it seems square from the player's point of view. It's worth having a "real" board around, especially if you're just starting out as a player.

Stones: The best Go stones are wonderful objects. Holding one, or a handful, is a remarkably soothing experience -- Go stones were the inspiration for the "worry stones" sold in some personal-improvement catalogs. The bad news is, they cost hundreds of dollars, so let's skip them for now. We'll get there in a future column. Most reasonably priced stones you will see are either plastic or glass. Plastic stones are cheap -- sometimes less than $10 -- and unlike glass stones, they don't break. Glass stones have more heft, which helps them to stay put during the game better. Glass stones can cost anywhere from $20 to $65 and more. The difference is the quality of glass. Reflected highlights can seem wavy on cheaper glass stones -- on the best stones, they trace each stone's smooth contour beautifully. The best glass stones have a "soothability quotient" close to that of shell and slate.

Bowls: Here you can really economize. All you need are a couple of snap-top plastic storage containers from Chinese takeout, or the grocery store, but custom-made storage bowls are nicer, and they come in a wide range of prices. Square bowls are great for clubs, especially if you have to pack up and unpack your equipment a lot. Most traditional bowls are round. Molded plastic bowls are a cheap, attractive alternative. Yutopian offers nice square bowls for $7 at https://www.yutopian.com/yutop/cat?product=BK340&category=B. I also like Samarkand's "alien carapace" bowls. http://www.samarkand.net/Web_store/web_store.cgi?page=B01BC.html&cart_id=4641849_58620 The best bowls are made of wood. You can also spend over $1000 for huge mulberry bowls, large enough to hold stones that look like marbles, but then you'd have to invest a couple thou in the stones too. 

If you already have good equipment, give a nice set to your favorite opponent who doesn't own one. It could keep your friend interested, so you keep having more games -- "the gift that keeps on giving!" In the next few installments of this column, we'll look at some other stuff you'll want for yourself.

NOTE: The opinions expressed are those of the author do not reflect the views of the American Go Association.

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