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How to Properly Hold and Play a Go Stone
Keywords: Equipment
In most cases people would hold an object with the shape and size of a Go stone between thumb and index finger. However this is not the proper way to hold and play a Go stone. You too can make your moves with the slickness of Yi Ch'ang-ho (now if we could just figure out on what point Yi would play...). When taking a stone out of the Go bowl for your next move, slightly bury your index finger under the stone, and trap it against the nail of your index finger with your middle finger. Position the stone just above the right spot on the board. Release gently. (Or smack it down hard if you don't have a clue whether your move is a good one but you want to appear convinced.) Not only does this look very elegant, it is also the easiest way to carefully place a stone in between a bunch of others once the board gets crowded.
Bignose: I posted an answer to this question in a Bill Spight: This grip is also a good one to use for extracting M&M's from their bag, as well as other candies and nuts. Inserting two fingers into the small space is less clumsy than inserting a finger and thumb. You can also use this grip when taking goodies from a bowl. Even though it is not necessary, you will impress your friends. ;-) Morten Pahle: With a bit of practice you can also 'roll' it between all four fingers, doing a 'double figure of eight' above and below alternate fingers. Not only will this impress your opponents, but it will also make them, if they try to copy you, lose a stone on the board and upset the position, which was hopeless anyway ;^) HolIgor: Are you sure that this is a proper way to put the stone? If you read Hikaru No Go you should remember that Touya Akira asks Hikaru to show him his hand in the beginning. Since Hikaru's nails were not worn Akira concluded that Hikaru did not play go. Did you wonder why the nails should be worn? I have been shown the way to put stones on the goban once. Unfortunately I don't remember (and cannot figure out now) how it is done to produce that "pa-chi" sound from Hikaru No Go. I can imagine that with that trick the nails could be really worn. Bill: The click is produced by snapping the edge of the played stone against the edge of an adjacent stone. Try resting your forefinger on top of the adjacent stone with the edge of the stone to be played touching the board. Then snap the stone to be played down. Stefan wants the world to know that he has extended this technique to coins too. In fact he considers it the only proper way to pay for your coffee in the bar of a Go tournament. He's currently practicing with the 8 new Euro-coins. All useless facts (or Wiki Master Edit Fodder, as deshi would call it), but hey, it's Christmas. Karl Knechtel: I regret that I've never had the opportunity to play Go over the board, but - I cannot conceive of the method described. Index finger goes *under* the stone and middle finger *over* it? That seems like a rather odd crossing of fingers to me... just placing it that way I'm sure I'd find a way to flick the stone away, or not be able to release my fingers properly without upsetting nearby stones - to say nothing of smacking the stone down with index finger still awkwardly underneath!
SAS: There are some pictures on the Nihon Ki-in web-site: Stefan: ... and the Hikaru manga have quite a few cover drawings with our hero looking fierce and properly holding a stone in front of him. Karl Knechtel: Ah. It's much clearer now that I see that you do it with palm facing down :) I guess I have a strange way of looking at things. Right, that way your index finger gets out of the way much more easily. :) Otis: I recall seeing a couple panels of hikaru no go where Sai does a rather cool bit of stone manipulation. He picks up a stone by grasping its edge between thumb and first finger, then reaches over it with his middle finger, hooking the far edge and rolling the stone back around the end of his first finger while releasing it with his thumb, bringing it into normal stone-grasping position. This is useful, as it is sometimes easier to get the stone out of the bowl with thumb and first finger than with first and second finger. Also, I find it fun to be holding that first stone the "wrong" way, get a suspicious look for it, then roll it into the "right" grip and snap it down on the board with a smile. Aaron: I want to play on a real board, but I don't know good stores to go to for gobans and stones. I wonder how many people became hooked after Hikaru No Go? :) I'm looking forward to the next translated chapters, I'm up to 134 now. :) And maybe the middle/index finger thing evolved from the use of chopsticks to pick up things, only you use your fingers instead. HolIgor: No, it is just a natural end easy way to put a stone on the board. It comes naturally after several games and observation how stronger players do it. 15 years ago, when I came to a go club nobody taught me this, nobody actually paid attention to how you hold stones. Hikaru no Go just stressed the point to show how bewildered Akira was during that first game. Thomas: When removing captured stones from the goban, do you hold them the same way like placing them (between index and middle finger), or do you just grab them with thumb and index finger?
This is a copy of the living page "How to Properly Hold and Play a Go Stone" at Sensei's Library. (C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0. |