Life In 19x19

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has ever seen a floor go board put on a low table to play?

My knees can’t take sitting on the floor and I have heard that the floor go boards sound different
due to the inverted pyramid carved on the back (which a normal table go board does not have).. hence my question.


Thanks in advance
Oscas

I love floor boards for the authentic feel and uniqueness they offer, but keep a couple table boards around for simple practicality and travel.

oscaro928 wrote:I have heard that the floor go boards sound different
due to the inverted pyramid carved on the back

The Pyramid is more to help the wood breath than for sound...though I admit I don't understand the carpentry specifics behind it.

I am from Europe. I am used to sitting at a table. I am also used to play go at a table and a table board. Almost every go player I know plays at a table. Floor gobans are not very common in Europe.
But I do have a floor goban. It is not the best wood or quality, but still very nice to see and to play. I like having the idea that I could, if I want, use a floor goban. But it is seldomly used.

For what it is worth, I think floor boards are not commonly used in Korea and China. Even in Japan the use of floor boards has been abandoned in some pro tournaments. Thirty five or more years ago the broadcast NHK TV tournament games were played on a nice kaya floor board. For some time now those games have been played on a table top board.

gowan wrote:Thirty five or more years ago the broadcast NHK TV tournament games were played on a nice kaya floor board. For some time now those games have been played on a table top board.

Not so fast. According to my Youtube studies the switch was made between the 44th and the 45th NHK Cup, 1997 and 1998 respectively. It's only twenty years ago. When we were young.

Cheers,
Vesa

gowan wrote:...Thirty five or more years ago the broadcast NHK TV tournament games were played on a nice kaya floor board. For some time now those games have been played on a table top board.

The NHK yournament is still played on a floor board. What you see is not a table board, but rather a floor board that has been placed through an opening on the table surface.

The photo below clearly shows one of the legs (circled part).

a floor board that has been placed through an opening on the table surface

Fascinating! That's as much of a surprise to me as those Ing tournament tables. Thanks for posting that

Wow! Why bother with going to that much trouble if you just want to have the playing surface look like a table-top board? Do the players want to sit in chairs?

What I know in other places like in Korea, go clubs and at other businesses, they always play on table boards.

You see floor boards mostly in homes with families.

I personally prefer floor boards with detachable legs, works for both if you know what I mean.

gowan wrote:Wow! Why bother with going to that much trouble if you just want to have the playing surface look like a table-top board? Do the players want to sit in chairs?

It can happen only in Japan!
Galation

Galation wrote:

gowan wrote:Wow! Why bother with going to that much trouble if you just want to have the playing surface look like a table-top board? Do the players want to sit in chairs?

It can happen only in Japan!
Galation

Agreed! I am amused at the relevation of the NHK floor board 'in' table set up. However it helped understand what happened at the end of this week's game between Ichiriki and Cho U. When the players were rearranging the stones for counting at the end of the game, Ichiriki dropped one of the black stones and it fell off the table. Both players took turns looking underneath but they could not find it (no doubt due to all the lumber under the table )! Cho handed over another black stone instead.

PS: Ichiriki won and will play either Iyama or Ida in the final two weeks from now.

There are comfortable ways of playing on a floor board if you do not want to kill your knees sitting on the floor. You can use meditation benches. Here's an example; it feels no different than sitting on a wooden chair.