Equipment page at Kiseido ( GO EQUIPMENT ) says that katsura and agathis are hard woods and advise not to use low quality slate and shell or even prefer glass stones to avoid to break them.
I bought a Keyaki Zelkova goban some years ago and although I’m not sure how it compares to others, it seems it is also a hard wood. I bought it because I found it had very nice patterns although it is darker than kaya.
Should I be especially careful when using it?
Does anybody experienced breaking a stone when using it during a game on a hard wood goban?
Stones break only when you slam them with great force onto the board. There is absolutely no need to put a stone with a loud bang on the board, other than to intimidate your opponent. (In my book you already lost when you feel the need to use intimidation.)
That is up to you. But if you are too careful you might not enjoy that set to the fullest. In life objects do experience some wear and tear.
You’re right and I don’t expect the stones to be unalterable nor the goban.
However I’m quite stunned by the warnings of Kiseido page, as slate and shell stones seem very difficult to break on wood and I wonder how it is even possible.
Moreover, I thought woods for goban were choosen because of their color / aesthetic and sound quality.
Anyway, a japanese craftsman chose it for this goban.
As natural materials, slate and shell may have weaknesses.
I’ve also had glass or yunzi stones broken or chipped in transit.
And I think it can also happen when you drop back stones in the bowl against other stones.
In any case, I don’t want to change this goban and a stone can sometimes break or chip, it is acceptable wear and tear. I don’t use it much but so far, no stone have been broken.
I especially wanted to share experience and know if anyone had ever broken a stone while playing on a “hard wood” goban.
Sorry, I made an erroneous summary: they don’t say not to use low quality shell stones with hard wood but to use glass with agathis and avoid expensive shell and slate stones with katsura or be very careful in this case. They even say to prefer cheaper jitsuyo for katsura and yuki for kaya boards.
Keyaki is a much appreciated wood among woodworkers in Japan. I never heard of a goban made out of it before but I totally understand that you were attracted to the patterns of the grain. It’s quite often used for go bowls for that reason.
As far as the use of shell stones on more hard woods is concerned, Karuki offers entry level sets with Blue Label stones combined with an agathis board. Maybe that because in the ‘days of old’ most of the stones were far less thick than today (the Japanse shells grow quite slow compared to mexican shells, just like the trees btw) contributed to the carefulness of the use of them on boards made of hard wood. But that’s just a thought that occurred to me recently while comparing Japanese Suwabate shell stones to Mexican ones.
Anyway, use whatever stones you like on your board. I wish you a lot of joy in use of the set!
I know that feeling. I’ve collected some very nice used equipment from Japan myself and even though I really enjoy and appreciate the boards, bowls and stones I feel a bit underqualified for using some of them
