Go Board

kencleary

Don't know if this is the right place for this but the Games board appears to be exclusively geared towards computer games so........

Does anybody know where I could pick up a Go board and pieces around Dublin?, preferably in the city centre area.
If anybody doesn't know Go this is the game i'm talking about http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/3P3OCHNYPR8ID/ref=cm_bg_guides/104-0144583-6436735

On a similar note could anyone recommend any stores that stock some of the more esoteric type games like Abalone or Mancala? http://www.firebox.com seems to stock a few of them but the prices including delivery are a bit on the ridiculous side so i'd be grateful if somebody could point me towards an Irish source.

Marq

I'm afraid I don't know where you could get pieces but if you do, drop me a line, I'd love to play.

Blisterman

Is go difficult to learn? It sounds good.

RossFixxxed

Go: I've seen it in lots of hobby shops (Steven's green etc). Ask in there and they'll tell you. There's some more specialist ones around Abbey Street (the end away from O connel Street (Parallel to Mary St.) Also try some of the bigger Eason shops. Hope you find it!

Ross

Hobbes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_%28board_game%29

you could probably make the pieces yourself.

kencleary

Ebay also seems to have a large selection of Go boards at the moment.

I particularly like this one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2549&item=5919751509&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

$165 for shipping though
and thats just to the US

Magic Monkey

Wow, Go seems to be getting popular these days.

Ken, here you go, the Irish Go Club.

John Gibson sells 19x19 boards, along with stones, for about €70 iirc. They play in the Pembroke every Monday and Wednesday evening, about 9pm.

You could also try Samarkand.

For anyone thats interested in the game, check out The Interactive Way to Go and Sensei's Library for an introduction.

You can also play online, using CGoban on the KGS server.

Bungalow Bill

Howard Marks used to rave about it in Mr Nice. Are all sets really expensive???

I love to know how to play but I get the feeling its a game strictly for extreme intellectuals. Can anybody spread some light on the game?

Blisterman

Just learned the basic strategys. Seems pretty cool. Much better than chess.

gobby

The game has been around for donkeys (apparantly). I've played it once or twice but never really got the hang of it. I think that the boards and stones generally are expensive. I dont see why tbh. Try making a board. Shouldnt be too difficult...

nadir

gobby wrote:

The game has been around for donkeys (apparantly). I've played it once or twice but never really got the hang of it. I think that the boards and stones generally are expensive. I dont see why tbh. Try making a board. Shouldnt be too difficult...

it dates back thousands of years afaik.
and yea, it rocks
apparently it's much more difficult for computers to play, compared to something like chess, due to the fact that computers play by calculating every possible scenario. I believe professional chess players also attempt this. With go, this becomes astronomically difficult due to the massive amount of possible permutaions of territory size/shape.
with that said im just useless against the computer here. so much for all those math classes!
I dont know about getting a real board, but heres some linkage.

http://kgs.kiseido.com/
http://qgo.sourceforge.net/
http://cgoban1.sourceforge.net/

ps: like gobby says it should be dead easy to make a board , I guess you are looking for something aesthetically pleasing.
also i found go to be infinetely more challenging than Mancala, which seemed to be very predictable. But perhaps we were playing it wrong or something.

Magic Monkey

Bungalow Bill wrote:

Howard Marks used to rave about it in Mr Nice. Are all sets really expensive???

I love to know how to play but I get the feeling its a game strictly for extreme intellectuals. Can anybody spread some light on the game?

Sets aren't that expensive. The better quality, the higher the price. You can get cheap & cheerful sets from the states or over here. No need for an expensive set if you're starting out. But theres nothing to it if you make one yourself. If you're really stuck, draw a grid on some paper and use cadbury/milky way buttons for stones (fun, and delicious - eat your opponents captured stones!).

As far as being for extreme intellectuals, hah! You can play once you know the few basic rules. See the playto.go/interactive link I posted above. The game is ranked in terms of kyu and dan. A beginner would start at perhaps 30kyu, then eventually reach 1 kyu, then 1 dan, and so on up to 10 dan (iirc). Weaker players play stronger players by means of handicap stones on the board, so theres no restrictions on who you can play. Also, Go, I'm told, is the best mental workout disguised in a game, so you may even find yourself getting smarter

Whatever you do, at least go through the interactive tutorial and try some online games in the KGS beginner room. Its a really, really fun game to play.

emagdnim

Went into Visuals on Liffey St today, and they have GO sets for €35....didnt buy one today because im smashed, prob get one this Friday, if anyone buys one in the mean time let us know what theyre like.