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Equipment Dimensions
Path: MakingYourOwnEquipment   · Prev:   · Next: MaterialGoban
    Keywords: Equipment

First a general note: even the Nihon Ki-in rules do not specify exactly which sizes must be used (apparently, the phraseology is 'is usually ...'). From this, one can infer that the actual sizes are not of immense importance. So, where I use the word 'should', it is not a set requirement, but should be understood as 'ought to be around'. The numbers here will not be agreed on by everyone either. (See discussion below)

A 19x19 goban should measure 454.5 by 424.2 mm. It should be 151.5 mm thick.

The lines should be 22 mm apart (width-wise) and 23.7 mm apart (length wise). This leaves 13.8 mm around all four edges.

Lines are typically 1 mm thick.

Hoshi markers are typically 4 mm in diameter.

White stones should have a diameter of 22.1 mm. Black stones should be a little bit larger.

Stones should be black (181 off) and white (180 off) and are between 6 and 10 mm thick. They are bi-concave, i.e. thicker in the middle than on the edges. (However, they shouldn't be 'sharp').

Just for completeness: the following table recapitulates this information in other measurement units:

 Dimension                 SI       Imperial    Japanese
                          (mm)       (inch)
 Goban width               424.4    16 23/32     1.5 shaku
 Goban length              454.5    17 29/32     1.4 shaku
 Goban thickness           151.5     5 31/32     0.5 shaku
 Line spacing width-wise   22           7/8      7.26 bu
 Line spacing length-wise  23.7        15/16     7.82 bu
 Line thickness             1          >1/32     0.3 bu
 Hoshi marker diameter      4           5/32     1.2 bu
 Stones diameter           22.5        29/32     7.5 bu

(1 inch=25.4 mm. 1 shaku= 100 bu =303 mm)

A bit more detail on the 'why's of the above.

A goban is not meant to be square. When seated in front of a square board, it would look wider than tall. Therefore, for reasons of perspective, they are longer in the direction from one player to the other than width wise.

Black stones are meant to be a little bit larger than the white ones to compensate for an optical illusion which would otherwise make the white ones look a little bit larger.

The stones should be a little bit larger than the width-wise line spacing. This means that they cannot be placed completely regularly on the board, but that they will be a little bit on top of each other, not on a straight line etc. This is said to be for the aesthetic reason that the far east culture traditionally does not like symmetry[1].

The stone thickness is a matter of taste. There are so-called 'Chinese' type stones which are not symmetrical, i.e. they have an 'up' and a 'down' side. (I've never seen these in real life.)

The Goban thickness as given is for a floor board. The floor board typically has legs which are roughly 10 cm (4 inches) high, so that the playing surface is around 25 cm (10 inches) high. Playing on floor boards means that you sit on the floor, possibly with an armrest. Often, table boards are used (placed on top of a table). Table boards can be up to 5 cm (2 inches) thick.

Bowls

There are no sizes or requirements for the bowls. Suffice it to say that they need to be large enough to carry all the stones, and that a lid is useful, so that you can temporarily store the stones which you have captured.


[1] Couldn't that dislike of symmetry be the cause of the not-square boards, too? SteffenGlueckselig

bkhl: I wouldn't think so. In that case it would hardly be made so that the squares look quadratical from the players' perspective.



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This is a copy of the living page "Equipment Dimensions" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.