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Everybody Must Get Stones
August 18, 2003
By Roy Laird

A bowl full of well-made Go stones is a thing of beauty. Running them through your fingers brings a cool, refreshing stream to mind. With good equipment, black's satin sheen and white's sharp glint as they spell out patterns across the board add a level of visual beauty to one's enjoyment of the game.

Stones can be made of nearly anything. Players in remote locations have been known to spray-paint bottlecaps and draw grids in the dirt. Yutopian offers stones made from jade, marble and agate/quartz at https://www.yutopian.com/yutop/cat?category=ge. Yutopian also sells stones made by the Ing Foundation, a philanthropic group in Taipei that supports international go. These weighted plastic stones stay put a little better than other plastic stones. Ing stones come in self-counting bowls that help you verify exactly how many stones there are. Why do you need to know? Because you might want to try a rule set developed by the Ing Foundation, called the "SST Laws." You can find them at http://www.usgo.org/resources/SST.asp

Most people agree that the very best materials for stones are shell and slate. The finest black stones are made from a particular type of slate that yields a glossy sheen. The best white stones are made from clamshells, with the shell's grain on one side. The quality of the grain on white stones varies considerably and accounts for nearly all of the cost difference. White stones fall into three categories. Jitsuyo or "standard" grade stones are judged to be of good quality, but some of the grain may be blurry or indistinct. Tsuki, sometimes called "flower" or "moon" grade stones, have more uniform grain, while yuki or "snow" grade stones are the best you can get. Black stones are a tiny bit smaller than white stones, to compensate for an optical illusion that causes them to appear larger.

Go stones, especially shell and slate ones, also vary in their thickness. After many games, the best white stones take on an ivory cast from the many hands that touch them. Generations of use can erode even the finest stones to a flat, wafer-like shape, but new stones can be almost round, up to 11 mm or more in thickness. Many players find the thickest stones hard to use, preferring the 8-10 mm range.

Most stones are rounded on both sides, but Chinese stones, also called yunnan stones, are flat on one side. The young woman on the cover of the new epic novel "The Girl Who Played Go" ($16.50 at www.amazon.com) holds some yunnan stones in her hand. Some players like to use these stones for teaching games. In the post-game analysis, some stones can be placed flat side up, making it easier to visualize difficult variations, then restore the actual game. Yunnan stones seem to available only from Yutopian, at http://www.yutopian.com/go/stone/sc045.html These stones are made of an interesting jade-like material. Hold a "black" stone to the light, and you discover that it is actually dark green. They come with their own woven containers

If you're shopping for your first set, I recommend some nice glass stones. Very serviceable glass stones manufactured in Korean are available for $20 or less. Japanese stones, which have fewer imperfections, cost significantly more, $50 and up. You'll want a good thickness, not too thick but at least 8mm or better. You'll like the way a nice thick stone lies in your hand.

As with boards, you can spend thousands for the best stones, but you can own a good set for the price of a good DVD player,. Start your shopping at http://www.kurokigoishi.co.jp/english/go/okaidoku/02-02.html, where slate and shell stones are available direct from the manufacturer. "Moon-grade" stones are often on sale for half price. I doubt that you can tell the difference between these "Moon-grade" stones and most "snow" grades stones, but if you must have the best, Kiseido, Samarkand and Yutopian offer a full range of thicknesses and grades. Go to http://www.usgo.org/resources/distributors.asp for complete information about many reliable vendors.

OK, you've got a good board and a nice set of stones. You're almost fully equipped. Last question -- what do you put them in? Stay tuned . . .

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