After around 2 years that play, I decided to buy a new and more serious go set. I would buy it from http://www.kurokigoishi.co.jp/english/index.html. Unfortunately my budget is not very high, because of shipping to europe and duty taxes, but I'm interesting in your advices. The only importart things is that I wish I could use this set for many years so I would buy a good compromise between cost, aesthetics and durability.
I thought to divide the discussion into 3 parts so can be useful also for who isn't interested in buying a set.

Goban

There are a lot of discussions in this forum but after I read a lot of it i'm already really confused.
I exclude go board with legs because too much expensive for me. I would buy a go table board around 5-6 cm. But I'm very undecided.
I still have not realized if is better a one-piece board or a multiple-piece board. And also i don't understand wich grain is better.

In Japan the most desirable boards are made of genuine kaya wood. There is another kind of board made from spruce wood which is called shin kaya in Japan. This is not really any kind of kaya. The proper translation of shin kaya would be imitation kaya. Shin kaya boards have some resemblance to real kaya but the color and the grain are considered coarse. Genuine kaya boards are the only ones where type of grain is an issue. What you want to buy is a board with masame, or straight, grain, and most boards for table top use are made this way. Well made multi-piece boards have a playing surface that is almost indistinguishable from single piece boards but multi-piece boards are a lot less expensive than single piece boards. As for durability, I have a genuine kaya multi-piece table top board, 6 cm thick, that I bought in Japan around 50 years ago and it still has a beautiful color and surface and has not warped or cracked. Ask Kuroki Goishiten to email you a photograph of any board you are interested in, same for bowls.

Go Bowls
I searched different type of bowls and found this link (http://llanoestacado.org/cybercomputing ... /index.htm)
I don't understand what differences are between different types of wood used in bowls. Only aesthetics?
I'd like Karin but I don't find it on Kuroki's site. Maybe is not available. Anyone knows how much it should cost?
I see photos of very aged bowls and seems really dark. Is it caused by the aging of the wood? Or only by a poor preservation?

The link you posted shows photographs mostly from the Kuroki website. I know that karin wood is becoming scarce and Kuroki does not list karin bowls on their website. They may still have some in stock so you could ask them. I bought a pair of kusu bowls from them which are quite beautiful and less expensive than karin. In the past the only woods for go bowls that were commonly found were mulberry, keyaki, karin, cherry, and chestnut. Kuroki has several less common woods which look quite attractive. In the past, karin was sometimes not preferered because it is super hard and the stones make a metalic clink when dropped into the bowl, which some people don't like. Keyaki starts out a very light color but over time it darkens beautifully to a medium tan-brown color. In Japan people try to match the appearance of the bowls with the board. You could ask Kuroki what bowls they recommend within your price range for the board you will buy. In the end it is probably a matter of aesthetics.


Go Stones
I would buy clam shell stones standard grade. Only question concerns the size. Until now I used glass stones around 8 mm. What size do you recommend?

The size of stone is also a matter of your preference. Some people like really thick stones, others prefer less thick. In Japan there is a feeling that the thickness of the stones should be related to the thickness of the board. Thicker stones go with thicker boards. Also, thinner stones are more likely to chip at the edge. Personally I think 8mm or thicker is good. I find 8mm, 8.4mm, 8.8mm and 9.2mm all are easy to handle and work well with the thickness of board you plan to buy.

I hope I have not forgotten any questions.

Should I clean goban, goke and clamshell stones before use?

The bowls have a very strong and unpleasant smell. Should I leave it open a few days before putting in the stones?

Should I use a cloth inside to avoid that stones are in contact with the surface of go bowls?

I thought to put it in a closed cabinet to avoid dust and light when i'm not using it. Is a bad idea?

Inside the cabinet can store goban and bowls in boxes (wood or carton) or not?

Thanks very much!! At the end I decided to buy this (http://www.kurokigoishi.co.jp/english/o ... aya20.html) and today has arrived. But now I have some question.





I have read that it's not a good idea to keep the stones for a long time in the go bowls. Should I use a cloth inside to avoid that stones are in contact with the surface of go bowls?