New Equipment

A few weeks ago, I finally made the decision and gifted myself a fine set of go bowls and a 2.4" shin kaya single piece go board. REALLY beautiful!

Although I expected to hear a harder CLAC when placing a stone, it felt quite soft... but hey, it's probably me not placing the stones properly!

Additionally, I bought a sample pack of slate and shell stones, to be able to compare them with the ones I already had. I must admit that the slate stones deceived me a bit, or maybe it's the glass stones I already have that are so beautiful, that they don't make a difference with the slate ones. In fact, I didn't toss them in the bowl with the rest fearing I couldn't tell them apart.

I don't think paying a lot more for these stones is really worth the money. Although if the shell stones were sold apart from the slate stones, then I would think of buying shell stones.

I bought them at GoGameGuru, and guess what, I paid with bitcoins! I was having trouble paying with my Visa credit card for some unknown reason. To my surprise, they accepted bitcoins so now I have two reasons to celebrate: my new go equipment and my first purchase with bitcoins.

Clic here for a great review of the bowls.

Go Seigen Birthday Pack

Yesterday I received 4 books from Slate & Shell. I don't know when I'll have the time to read them, but I couldn't resist the offer: they where half the price!

This is the offer from the webpage:

In commemoration of Go Seigen’s 100th birthday, Slate & Shell is offering John Fairbairn’s excellent set of books on Go Seigen at a 50% discount. The books cover Go’s biography and the historical situation in depth, and his significance as the greatest player of the 20th century, as well as providing detailed commentaries on many of his most famous games. Kamakura is about the ten game match with Kitani Minoru which is one of the greatest matches of all time. This book also covers Go’s early history and the beginning of his career in Japan. 9 Dan Showdown covers the ten game matches between the first two 9 dans in go history: Go and Fujisawa Kuranosuke. Final Summit is about Go’s ten game match with Takagawa Kaku, another giant of twentieth century go in Japan. Old Fuseki vs New Fuseki is about the revolution in thinking about the opening that was a major part of Go’s impact. This book is by far the fullest discussion of the issues around this revolution in go thinking that is available in English. It also includes Go’s famous game with Honinbo Shusai when, as an audacious teenager, he played the diagonal pattern of the 4-4 point, the center point, and the 3-3 point as his opening moves. - 

Watching

I was looking at my cellphone thinking about my next move. On the screen was the go board.
Suddenly my 4 year old daughter approached me and asked (in spanish):

- "¿Papi, podés jugar sólo por mirar la pantalla?"

Which translates to

-"Daddy, can you play by just looking at the screen?"

I laughed, put down my cellphone and gave her a huge kiss.