Bamboo Go Set with Reversible Board, Bowls, Stones

This complete Bamboo Go Set with Reversible Board, Bowls, Stones set includes a matching goban (board) and go-ke (bowls) with a beautiful dark wash, as well as a full complement of 180 white and 181 black go-ishi (stones). Single-convex in the traditional Chinese style, these go-ishi are made from bakelite, have a good weight, and, when placed, make a satisfying clack.

To most western players, the game of Go is an enigma. Invented in China 4,000 years ago, it has no proper analogue in the West. It’s like chess, but endlessly more complex. Focused more upon territory control and less about capturing the opponent’s pieces, there are between 150-250 valid moves a player could make on any turn. For chess, this number never climbs above 37. It is said there have never been two identical games of Go, and until March 2016 when AlphaGo soundly defeated Korea’s Lee Sedol 4-1, there had not existed a computer program that could reliably beat Go experts–let alone the masters.

Elegant Simplicity
Despite this, Go is surprisingly easy to learn. There are only two rules:

1. Every piece that remains on the board must have at least one open point (called a “liberty”) directly next to it, and
2. Players are not allowed to make a move that would return the game to a previous position.

Traditionally, Go boards are not a perfect square, but slightly oblong, which thanks to foreshortening creates for players the visual effect of a perfect square. This is a solid 47x44cm table board with the standard 2cm thickness and great heft. Better yet, it’s reversible: the top side features the time-tested 19×19 board layout, and the underside features a beginner-friendly 13×13 layout for quicker, simpler play.

This item ships from the US!

World Wide Delivery

We provide free shipping to over 185 countries. Kindly note that due to the way postal services operate throughout the world, the delivery dates provided are only estimates and will depend on the efficiency of the postal services in your country. We will always send you a tracking number for your order! For more information about shipping and delivery, please see our shipping section.

Our Guarantee

If you don’t have a positive experience for ANY reason, the Fabulous Gift Shop will do WHATEVER it can to make sure you are 100% satisfied with your purchase.

We understand that buying items online can be a daunting task, so we want to make the process as simple as possible and for you to realize that there is absolutely ZERO risk in buying something.

Please contact us if you need any assistance.