After about 10 months away from Go, I have decided to start playing again. I am thinking of buying a nicer Go board to celebrate my decision.

I am looking at this Go board on E-Bay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Baduk-Board-Aga ... 3ef9fce7b2. It's made of agathis, which I don't know much about.

I know that huga kaya (sp?) boards are very nice, but I really don't want to spend that much money. I am just looking for a nice, durable board that will last me for a long time. Any comments on agathis board in general, or on this board in particular, would be appreciated. I don't want to spend more than $200 total, including shipping.

It looks exactly like the board I have.
I have been using it for many years now, and as a everyday sturdy board I think it is really great!

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- Bantari
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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

The ebay link says that agathis board was made in Korea.
That board also looks like they painted the top and the bottom with some kind of yellow-ish paint.

I prefer no paint so the natural wood grains shine through.
I bought my two shin-kaya Japanese boards from Samarkand.net about 10 years ago --
each was made from 3 pieces of wood joined together, but with no paint anywhere,
just a think layer of finish. They still work great. Each cost just over US$100 at that time.

If you are okay with a painted board...

Yeah, honestly it's the very idea of a painted board that puts me off. For the cost, it's just not worth it to me.

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Sincerely, Chad R. Sobodash

I'm with csobod about the paint: my suspicion is the only reason they painted the wood
is to hide something -- otherwise, if the wood grain pattern was beautiful, who would want
to cover it up?

Interesting comments. I didn't really think about painted versus unpainted surfaces, to be honest.

I found some better pictures on gogameguru.com of a painted agathis board similar to the one on E-bay but a bit thicker (http://shop.gogameguru.com/agathis-go-board-24/) and an unpainted shin kaya board (http://shop.gogameguru.com/shin-kaya-go-board-24-c/). They also have an explanation about why the agathis board is painted (it's too red, the wood grain is distracting).

I actually like the looks of both these boards. The unpainted one looks more natural, but the painted board is a bit more colorful and dramatic. Based on looks alone, I don't think I really have a preference.

I guess I need to think about this some more. I am leaning toward the single-piece agathis board though, based on Bantari's comments and my feeling that a single piece board is probably more durable that a multi-piece board.

Actually, it's because the erratic grain pattern of agathis is naturally very distracting. It's just the nature of the wood. I haven't seen an unpainted agathis board, and I'd assume it's for this reason.

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Sincerely, Chad R. Sobodash

That board is made from 6 brothers. You don't have to worry about the quality. They are the most famous go board maker in Korea, from when my dad was a kid.

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Amsterdam, soon.

I've bought that board last week. It should arrive in the next two days and I plan to write a small review then if you are interested. Though, I can't say anything about durability in the first week ^^

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My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Regarding the paint on agathis, I'm pretty sure the mild yellow wash is pretty standard for agathis boards. Even the Korean professional game boards have it.

No one seems to have directly answered the question posed by the thread title.

Usually there are only lines on one side, so the side without the lines is the downside.

Agathis is reportedly the sturdiest of the common goban woods, so it should last a lifetime if not abused. I also prefer one-piece boards even though they can supposedly warp in certain climates. I have a two-piece agathis board that I bought almost two decades ago from Samarkand.net and it acquired a "split seam" right down the middle of the top surface where the two pieces were joined together. Consequently, I replaced it with a one-piece agathis board a few months ago.

Horibe, I'm curious -- are you aware that there is a word (pun) problem here?

Heh, for me, the upside of Horibe’s comment was an intentional pun, at least so I thought

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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

I ultimately went with the Agathis board, along with some slate and shell stones and some wooden bowls, all of which I ended up buying from Gogameguru.

I'm very happy with everything. The board is a big solid piece of wood; I guess it will last me for quite a while (actually, at my age it will probably outlast me by quite a while). Although the top is tinted, I actually like the color and the sides (and the bottom) of the board show the natural wood colors.

These are my first slate and shell stones, and they look good on the board and feel good in the hand. And the wooden bowls are nice too.

Buying this nice equipment didn't make me any stronger, but it did have an effect which is similar to what happened when I bought my first nice guitar: I am a little more likely to study/practice just for the pleasure of using my fine board/instrument.

I'm fairly certain it was intentional!