Hello everyone,

First time posting in this forum. Today I went to a local antique store and found a antique goban with calligraphy from Cho Chikun (one of my favorite go player) and the price was too good to pass so I bought it home with me! I am very excited to share with you my new goban.

Since the wood wasn't in a good condition upon purchase I decided to be adventurous, so I oiled and waxed the board . This is my first time oiling a board and I am surprised how oiling and waxing can do to a old board. I can share with you my experience if you want to know my process and what type of oil/wax I used.

I really like the name Cho gave to this board. "明鏡" I think this translates to something like clear reflection/mirror. which I interpret it as staying true and having a clear heart.

I am not sure that type of wood this is, I was suspecting this might be katsura, but on a Chinese forum people are saying this could very possibly be Kaya because Kaya wood turns dark with age. What do you think?

Darker looking photos are taken from iPhone and lighter looking are taken from a mirrorless digital camera.
If you are wondering about the stones they are, Legendary Hyuga clam shell Flower grade size 33 from KGT
Thats all I have, hope you guys enjoyed it as I do!

What an exciting find! Enjoy!

Thanks! I am very surprised that they carry this in the store.

Congrats on a nice find.

thanks! Now I have to go study what the poem means

So deep for one goban

You got a nice find.

I enjoyed for sure, thankyou for posting!
Can you share also your intervention on the wood?

I like the result.
Galation

_________________
When you play Weiqi you are joining millions of people across four thousand years of time.
Jonathan Hop - So You Want to Play Go?

I hardly think Cho is referencing obscure Chinese poems. Much more likely he is using the commonest Japanese allusion of 明鏡 which is to the phrase 明鏡止水 (meikyo shisui - one of the 4-character phrases beloved by the Japanese). As I recall this is from Zhuang Zi - Chinese, of course, but nowadays almost universal.

The usual sense is to keep in mind a clear mirror, remembering that still water, i.e. your mind itself, can act like a mirror. Different people take this to mean keeping your wits about you, or eschewing evil thoughts, or (in go) having an untrammelled mind at the board.

Cho possibly took the phrase from the book of stock phrases they keep for this purpose in the Nihon Ki-in, but he has here a distinctive hand of his own which I rather like.

The board looks like katsura to me, judging by the grain, the color, and the carving of the legs. Of course I could be wrong since I can't see the board in person. I also think it is a nice find.

I didn't know the carving of the legs are different between kaya and katsura, that would explain why the price was so low.
They also carry a quiet nice looking antique light color hon-kaya goban with tenchimesa cut 6.5 inch (I believe its Japan grown) that they are selling for $200 more than the board I bought. which one do you think I should keep and which one would be more valuable over time (like for resale and bragging to go friend value )?

Thanks!

What I did was actually very simple, first I bought a few (four to be exact) 100% polyester hand towel and used it initially to clean the board. Just by wiping the board it board already looks nicer than its originally condition. But there were still a lot of white spots on the board ( I think that was dried wax). To get rid of those I used "Refined Linseed Oil"
https://gogameguru.com/go-board-care/
I started with the legs using a few drops for each leg, I wipe out the oil after about 5 mins, then I oiled the back, the side, then the front (a few drops on each star point) the board looks reborn when I finish applying oil. After wiping out the oil an making sure there are no part of the board that is really sticky I let the board dried for about 20 mins. After that I started to apply wax I bought from KGT and repeat the process I did for applying oil. I feel like the wood is still very dry and not as shine as I would like it to be, so I am planning to apply oil everyday for a couple of days. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Could someone (briefly) explain the difference(s) ? Thanks.Maybe very small differences: with a microfiber towel. (100% soft cotton probably the best.)

Congratulations on finding a nice board

It's Katsura, and looks like it might have a little preservative clay on the sides and legs, but I can't quite tell for sure.

Have you oiled the sides, legs and bottom? If not, doing so will likely dampen or eliminate the scratching on the sides, legs and bottom.



I've never noticed a difference in carving between Katsura and Kaya legs. There is a difference in quality of the cuts, but that's usually a matter of board quality and not wood. Sadly I'm in China at the moment and don't have my notes with me, so I don't remember what they're called. The first kind of leg is seen on cheaper wooden boards and the lotus carving slops downward and out. The other is reserved for higher quality boards, generally seen with Kaya but also good Katsura and Spruce (This board seems to have the better carving, but there are no good pictures of the legs so I can't say for sure). The higher quality Lotus slopes inward and up to a point in the middle. In rare cases (generally the very best of the best ) there may be further decoration like a second layer to the lotus blossom, but it's unusual.

I'd post some of my own pictures, but the Chinese internet is sketchy at best right now, so I'll just send some link examples.

Normal legs. (Example is Spruce)
http://shop.kurokigoishi.co.jp/upload/i ... =475_2.jpg

Nicer legs. (Example is Hyuga Kaya)
http://shop.kurokigoishi.co.jp/upload/i ... =798_2.jpg

The legs are where an artisan can really show their skill.