Life In 19x19

The stone that felt better in my hand ended up wobbling for a while after being placed on the board.

Stabilization (placement) of the stones is (yet another) acquired skill. It takes practice.

Mr. Iyama v. Mr. Kono.

The stone placements are quite elegant and stable in these NHK TV blitz tourneys.

As Galation mentioned, some folks actually enjoy the wobbling.

I'm greedy: I like both thick stones (10.7 mm) and stable placements.

EdLee wrote:I'm greedy: I like both thick stones (10.7 mm) and stable placements.

Me too
Still, it happened that guys I played with had unfavorably commented the thickness of my stones due to the added handling difficulty.

obviously if they were to drop a stone moving the position of the other stones on the goban...
I would instantly claim I had won the game according tournament rules

Galation

EdLee wrote:Stabilization (placement) of the stones is (yet another) acquired skill. It takes practice.

Mr. Iyama v. Mr. Kono.

The stone placements are quite elegant and stable in these NHK TV blitz tourneys.

...

Hi Ed. I watched the youtube video and was wondering your thoughts on Iyama's move six (at just past the two minute mark). It seems he places the stone below his intended point, and then slides it up. Isn't this frowned upon? At least at our level? I didn't watch further, so not sure if this is an abberation or not.

Deviating further off topic, but I guess that's what I do. Maybe I'll start a new thread in the General Go Chat section on this move.

Placing and sliding is common in pro games. What is frowned on, if anything, would be placing a stone, keeping a finger on it and then sliding to a different place after deciding a different place would be better. The pros do the place-and-slide as a single movement, often when it would be awkward to place the stone without displacing other stones. In fast games this kind of thing also is done as an expression of feelings, in that case the initial placement would be done energetically and also the slide.

Hi mhlepore,

Adding to what Gowan said, the important thing is that the intended move is very clear and unambiguous, even with any sliding.
HnG made this very clear with their normal, regular slidings throughout the series, and also with Mr. Izumi's resign in his pro exam game (where he specifically moved the stone from the initial point to another spot without lifting the touching finger).

Since we've had a problem with "sliding" (especially among kids) at the Seattle Go Center tournaments, we've had to define in our tournament rules what pros do as "stylistic-sliding" and only allow that type -- as long as it doesn't get out of hand and evolve into the "slide around the board until you find a good position to play it" move.

EdLee wrote:

mhlepore wrote:180 white and around 185 black stones

Spares: ~4 , zero .

Only if you're using Ing rules.
Otherwise 30+ extras -- as only a minimum of 150 stones each are typically needed for a full game.

xed_over wrote:Since we've had a problem with "sliding" (especially among kids) at the Seattle Go Center tournaments, we've had to define in our tournament rules what pros do as "stylistic-sliding" and only allow that type -- as long as it doesn't get out of hand and evolve into the "slide around the board until you find a good position to play it" move.

I never had the problem, so this is only my first impression
IMHO as long as you do not leave the stone, you can slide it: this is kind of necessary to avoid to move other stones in crowded positions.
On the other hand, there are bad habits that have to be fought: http://senseis.xmp.net/?DanglingAStoneA ... leThinking

Galation

Only if you're using Ing rules.
Otherwise 30+ extras -- as only a minimum of 150 stones each are typically needed for a full game.

Nothing about any rules.
There's the loss of stones (over time).
Also, it's not uncommon to run out of even the full 361 stones.
Example: KGT sets come with 2 spares for each color (183 and 182 )

Some shirts also come with 1 or 2 spare buttons.

I agree that sliding feels good. And most of the time is not controversial - the example I brought up (move six on the youtube video) is at such an early stage of the game that no one would question where Iyama intended to move. But his move is clearly on the 5-2 point, and then he slides it up to the 5-3 point. How does this jive with various rulesets?

From AGA's Concise Rules...
2) Play: The players alternate in moving, with Black playing first. In handicap games, White moves first after Black has placed his or her handicap stones. A move consists in playing a stone of one's color on an empty intersection (including edges and corners), or in passing.

Perhaps the rule doesn't speak precisely enough about stone placement. But one could certainly interpret it to mean sliding is not allowed.

Perhaps the rule doesn't speak precisely enough about stone placement.

We have a choice of millimeters^(*) in the rules, or common sense.







___________
^(*) Somewhere between 3x10^-21 m and 30 mm.

EdLee wrote:

Mr. Iyama v. Mr. Kono.

I just watched the whole thing. Thanks for the link!

I really prefer the thicker stones, same as you. They look more satisfying on the board, and the weight feels nice in my hand. I decided to buy size 37 yuki grade stones from Erythen's ebay listing (shoutout to him, he's a fair seller with good prices). I am eagerly awaiting their arrival.

I don't mind a bit of wobbling. There's a certain appealing aesthetic to when you play a big point, and the stone is left wobbling for just a moment, as if to punctuate the strength behind the move.

As for board dimples, I wonder from what I have seen of people at my club, if it's the case that many go players slam down their stones too hard. Of course, it looks pretty exciting in hikaru no go, to smash the stones like the board owes you money. But when I play I find the experience a bit softer, more tranquil than slamming the stone into the wood would allow for.

I suppose this is off topic by now

Hi Christopher,

Photos please, whrn they arrive.

EdLee wrote:

The stone that felt better in my hand ended up wobbling for a while after being placed on the board.

Stabilization (placement) of the stones is (yet another) acquired skill. It takes practice.

Mr. Iyama v. Mr. Kono.

The stone placements are quite elegant and stable in these NHK TV blitz tourneys.

As Galation mentioned, some folks actually enjoy the wobbling.

I'm greedy: I like both thick stones (10.7 mm) and stable placements.

How big are the stones used in that video? 38 or 36? (And in general in the NHK games/videos.)

Another question: I know it’s not recommended to use agathis board with shell stones. I am considering getting Moon grade stones from Kurokigoishi. Would an agathis board really damage them? What about a shin kaya board. (I am trying to save up for a kaya, but I figured I’d get nice stones first.)

AnarchoChossid wrote:How big are the stones used in that video? 38 or 36? (And in general in the NHK games/videos.)

I heard Mr. Cho Chikun's favorite size is 38.
If he had any say, it would be 38.
I cannot tell from watching the NHK videos alone.

AnarchoChossid wrote: I know it’s not recommended to use agathis board with shell stones. ... Would an agathis board really damage them? What about a shin kaya board.

I have two Japanese shin kaya (agathis?) boards,
and I pair them up both with Kuroki shell sets.
No problem at all.

( Yes -- if you slam the slate stones down with the intention to damage the board, or,
if you slam the shell stones down with the intention to break the stones,
you will succeed, eventually.

If you drink enough water, you can also inflict on yourself severe, possibly even fatal, damage.
)