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Dumping A Pile Of Stones Out Of The Bowl
   

JanDeWit writes: After I played Go against a real person a little self-reflection led me to conclude this:

"Go stones are not crisps" (or chips :-)

This doesn't quite refer to the page's title, but what's the difference between dumping some stones on the table and keeping them in your hand?

At the time, I was afraid to lose time (it wasn't even a timed game, being my first) by grabbing for a stone, I wanted to respond quicker to my opponent, i.e. I wasn't thinking.

Hypothesis: So it shouldn't really be a problem per se: when your opponent dumps her stones, you're in for a quick game because she isn't thinking...

Another thing I noticed later was that a pile of stones out of the bowl can greatly confuse counting, especially when you're trying out variations or new to the game.

I try to take a stone (or two, that's acceptable as well) out of the bowl when and if I've thought of a move, thus also avoiding the DanglingAStoneAboveTheBoardWhileThinking problem.



AndreEngels: Personally, I have no problems with this behaviour, but regarding the difference between keeping them on the table and in your hand: The difference is the number of stones. To have one, maybe two, stones 'ready' outside the bowl should not regarded bad behaviour, but doing so with a number of stones at once might be.



Owl: I once witnessed a hot discussion after a game. White had this habbit of taking stones out of his bowl during the game and putting them on the table next to the board. At the end, some of these stones got mixed up with some captured stones. Definitely something which should be avoided.

Professionals don't usually touch the stones until they play a move. Their argument is that a stone in your hand 'wants to be played' and thus disturbs your thinking.



OneEye: My pet peeve is an opponent who constantly "rifles" the stones in his bowl and clatters them in his hand. Its very noisy and makes it difficult to concentrate.



This is a copy of the living page "Dumping A Pile Of Stones Out Of The Bowl" at Sensei's Library.
(C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.