How to Choose a Go Board: Wood, Form and Thickness

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The short answer: decide wood, form, then thickness

When choosing a go board, settle three things in order: wood (honkaya, shinkaya, or another timber), form (tabletop or legged), and thickness (in sun). These three together largely fix the feel of play, the sense of presence, and the price. Work backwards from where you’ll use it and your budget: a honkaya legged board for the highest quality, a shinkaya or other-wood tabletop board for easy everyday play.

1. Wood

Wood most affects a board’s value and feel. The finest is kaya (Japanese torreya), and Japanese honkaya is the best of all — a moderate resilience gives a “sticking” feel and a clear ring. Because it is scarce and costly, the look-alike shinkaya (often imported spruce) is widely used at a lower price. Other woods — katsura, hiba, icho — are more affordable and suit everyday or first boards. See Honkaya vs Shinkaya for the difference.

2. Form: tabletop or legged

A tabletop board is thinner and lighter, easy to store and move — suited to playing at a table and chair. A legged board is set on the floor and played from a seated (seiza) position; it is thicker, resonates well, and has real presence. Which suits you depends on your living space and playing posture.

3. Thickness (sun)

Thickness is measured in sun (about 3.03 cm). Thicker boards play and sound better and look weightier, but are heavier and dearer. Tabletop boards are most often about two sun. Legged boards are sold from two sun up, with five to six sun the classic thickness.

Reading a board listing: thickness, wood names and grain

• Thickness in centimetres: 1 sun is about 3.03 cm, so a 2-sun board is about 6 cm and a 5-sun board about 15 cm. Some shops also write thickness as a number: Shogoya, a go and shogi shop in Osaka, explains that 2 sun (about 6 cm) = “20” and 3 sun (about 9 cm) = “30”.
• Legged boards: Kuroki Goishi Ten gives 3 to 8 sun (about 9 to 24 cm, not counting the legs) as the usual range, says boards are valued more highly from about 5 sun, and treats anything over 6 sun as high-end. Kyoto Tengudo notes that 5 to 6 sun is said to be the easiest height to play at. Thinner 2-sun legged boards are also sold (Shogoya, Igo Labo).
• Tabletop boards: anywhere from about 0.3 to 4 sun, with 2 sun (about 6 cm) the most common (Kuroki).
• “Shinkaya” and “shin-katsura” are trade names. Shinkaya is mainly North American spruce, not kaya (Kuroki, Maekawa Kaya Goban). Shin-katsura is agathis wood (Kyoto Tengudo). Igo Labo, for example, labels genuine Hokkaido katsura as hon-katsura.
• Grain: look at the end grain (koguchi, the front and back faces). Grain running straight from the top face to the bottom is tenchi-masa; straight only on the top side, ten-masa. On flat-grain (itame) boards, a U-shaped end grain is kiura and an inverted U is kiomote, which the Nihon Ki-in ranks lowest — while adding that it plays well and is often good value.

More detail: Go & Shogi Board Thickness, The Legs and the ‘Chidamari’ of a Go Board and Where to Buy Go Equipment Outside Japan.

Sources. Nihon Ki-in, “Igo zatsugaku”; Kuroki Goishi Ten, on board materials; Kyoto Tengudo on kaya go boards and shin-katsura; Maekawa Kaya Goban; Shogoya; Igo Labo. Checked 2026-10-06.

Choosing by budget

Price varies greatly with wood and thickness, so set priorities first:

• Feel and ritual first → a legged board, prioritising honkaya over thickness.
• Placement and ease first → a tabletop board, raising the grade of the wood.
• Just to start → a tabletop board in another wood.

Stones and bowls too

Choose stones (goishi) and bowls (goke) to match the board for a harmonious whole — clam-shell white and Nachiguro black for a classic set, or glass for easy handling. See How to Choose Go Stones.

Care

Kaya and other wooden boards dislike direct sun, dryness, and sudden temperature change. Keep out of direct sun and away from air-conditioning draughts, wipe only with a dry soft cloth (no water or chemicals), and don’t set heavy objects on the surface.

FAQ

What should I choose for a first board?

Start from placement and posture: a tabletop board for a table and chair, a legged board for serious seiza play. On a limited budget, many begin with a tabletop board in another wood and upgrade later.