The Game
Go has been played continuously for 4000 years. In that time, Go sets have ranged from the fantastic -- boards carved in the shape of giant turtles, with playing pieces (called "stones") made of precious metals and gems - to the understated set of the current century, with its subtle beauty of thick, honey-colored wood and stones of slate and delicately variegated clam shell.

When choosing a set, you should feel free to choose one that appeals to your taste -- there is no "correct" piece or combination. We carefully test all of our products for playability -- we want you to pull them out of the box and begin a lifetime of enjoyment.

A complete Go set can be as a simple as a board, stones, and bowls. Each of these items can range from a few dollars to hundreds of thousands. Additional items -- covers, armrests, tea sets, even an entire tatami room -- can increase the functionality of your set, or the aesthetic enjoyment of your Go-playing experience.

The Boards
The standard Go board is a slightly rectangular piece of wood about 42 centimeters by 45 centimeters, or appromiately 16 1/2 by 17 3/4 inches. The current style of board comes in two versions: table boards and floor boards. Table boards are meant to sit on a table (hence the name) and range from 1/2" to 2 1/8" thick. They are usually two or more pieces of wood permanently joined (a single piece this wide would tend to warp over time), but the thinner ones may be slotted or hinged to fold in half for more portability. Floor boards, like the one shown here, have carved wooden legs and stand between 9 and 15 inches high. These are meant to be played on while you sit on a cushion on the floor. The board itself is usually made of a single piece of wood, ranging from 4 1/2" to approximately 8 1/2" thick. On the underside, the thicker boards often have a carved inverted pyramid and a brush inscription in Chinese characters. On the surface, a black grid, usually 19 x 19, is applied with a special ink. Boards with 13 x 13 lines and 9 x 9 lines are also standard. Playing on a smaller grid results in a faster game - a typical 19 x 19 game may last an hour, a 13 x 13 game 30 minutes, and a 9 x 9 game may take 15 minutes.

The best woods for these types of boards have several distinctive qualities. Most importantly, they have the right kind of color and grain for easy playability. They also have a tiny bit of give, to produce optimal tone when struck with a stone. This is soft enough to develop indentations on the playing surface over many decades -- don't worry, that's considered to be a good thing, increasing a board's beauty and value. A protective cover when the board is not in use is a good idea. The standard Go board is a slightly rectangular piece of wood about 42 centimeters by 45 centimeters, or appromiately 16 1/2 by 17 3/4 inches.

Caring For Your Board:
Most traditional Go boards are made of a bare wood that has been rubbed with go board wax, to create a luminous matte surface. They don't need any special kind of cleaning, except to be wiped off with a soft cloth if they become dirty or dusty. You'll probably want to steer clear of any liquids, or wood polishers and cleaners, which may interfere with the surface. That is to be on the safe side -- I have taken a very slightly damp cloth to a very dirty board with no ill effects. A special "Go Board Oil" is available, but generally unnecessary. There are some non-traditionally-made boards that are more durable because they have a finish or are not made of a natural piece of wood. Usually these boards are intended to see heavy use, like our Samarkand Club Boards, and can be cleaned more aggressively if desired. Our New York Go Club boards were like this and were cleaned every day with spray glass cleaner, but then again, this is New York.

The Stones
These days, stones are most often made of glass. They can also be made from white clamshell and black slate. A full set will contain at least 180 opaque white stones and 180 black ones (one for every intersection, save one, on the 19x19 board). It's no problem, though, if you are missing a few. Stones are a little over 2cm in diameter (a little less than an inch) and vary from 6mm to 10mm thick (1/4 to 3/8 inch). In general, thicker stones are more expensive.

The most common Go-stone shape is biconvex, shown here. (Other, less commonly found stones are flat on one side.) Good Go stones are quite beautiful, carefully designed with the black stones slightly larger to compensate for an optical illusion that would otherwise make the white stones appear larger. Black stones may have a light coat of oil, which may be wiped off before the first use (do not wash shell and slate).

Samarkand stones, sold as full sets, will fit on any standard-sized Go board. Sets with non-standard sized boards (such as our travel sets) are noted and come with appropriately sized stones.

Please don't eat the stones. They may look like candies but they go down hard. We recommend keeping them away from toddlers.

The Bowls
Go bowls can be made of a variety of different woods. Specialty woods such as karin, keyaki, cherry, and chestnut fashioned in Japan into traditionally-shaped bowls with loosely fitting lids are popular. These can be made more affordable if they are made from non-specialty woods and then stained.

Samarkand bowls come in sets of two matched bowls, interchangeable for the black and white stones. Bowls most often appear in two pleasing shapes: a round bowl (Kitani style) and a slightly flattened bowl (Go Seigen style).