Yellow Mountain Imports Magnetic Go Game Set with Single Convex Magnetic Plastic Stones and Go Board, 11-inch

Nice little go set for learning. You probably couldn't do much better for the price, but there are a few signs of cheap. My surface had a few marks out of the box, the sticker isn't -perfectly- aligned. Some of the stones took a little work to get apart, some of the magnets need to pushed back into the slots (where they stayed great once in place), some have fiddly bits of plastic hanging off, but overall nice. Others have said it, but thank goodness for the nice firm snap of the board to hold the stones (the containers themselves don't snap shut, so if the board opened, it'd be chaos). Little slots inside to hold the containers into place so they don't bounce around. The magnets aren't strong enough to make it tough to move them, but stay in place really well when the board is jostled around. Only possible gripe for me is that I wish there was some padding to hold the board in place a little better on surfaces (but you could just throw some moleskin or something on it to the same effect). Also, a little booklet jammed in there with instructions on how to count, the rules, maybe handicap methods, that sort of thing, would bump up the value of this board for me. It's nothing too hard to learn, but I didn't realize I don't remember how to count a physical board until I finished my first game! If you need a nice set, good sound, real stones, any of that, spring for a good set. I just need one to have one, and one I won't feel bad about forgetting in someone elses car or a hotel, so this works great for me. EDIT DEC 2018: bumping this up to 5 stars. This set has bounced around the backset of my car, been crushed under books, put through some crap and still lived. I constantly find stones in my laundry and on the ground and still never run out. I still wish I would have bought a real set, and would still say a person should probably buy a real set as their first set, but I'd be lying if I said this set isn't perfect for what it is.

Pros: -Very high bang for your buck, considering it's 18.99 with free shipping. -Board is solidly constructed, with a smooth, durable hinge, and thick, high quality plastic. Board interlocks perfectly without a hitch when opened and closed. -Board is about 15 inches square, which is much closer to a real standard board than most cheap magnetic sets, where the board is so small you have to squint to see what's going on and the smallness of the board detracts from the enjoyment of the game. -Circular indents inside board hold stone containers in place while board is closed to prevent unnecessary sliding around. You have to actually clamp the board closed with your hands as you carry it though, as there is no automatic locking mechanism, or rather, it is extremely weak (which is actually a good thing imo) -The amount of attraction between the stones and the board is absolutely perfect. It's not too strong to hinder cleanup or removing stones, but strong enough for you to move the board around (even fold it in half mid game and/or flip it upside down like you're playing on the ceiling) without the stones coming off. -The stones themselves are a good size, slightly smaller than standard stones, but much larger than the usual tiny ones that you get in magnetic sets. You can actually hold them properly between your index and middle finger, and place them, which feels good. In addition to their diameter being only slightly smaller than standard 21mm stones, they are quite thick. -The part where the stones are ripped off from the plastic frame is SANDED and smooth, so there is no annoying sharp part to cut you. I saw someone else complaining about this problem on a different magnetic board. Cons: -Some of the magnetic fillings are uneven. Some of them are sticking out by 1mm (I had only 2 of these), and some are pushed in incompletely. Sometimes you can push them in yourself, but sometimes you can't. Not really a big deal, except if you slide these stones around on the board it may scratch the laminated surface. Most of my defective stones were black. I'd say only about 2 of them were really bad, with > 1mm protrusion from being flush with the surrounding plastic, and about 5 or 6 others were very slightly uneven.

I give this product 4 and a half stars. First, the product concept is extraordinary for this price range. Upon opening the box and taking out the go board, I see the folded board and the quality seems very high for a $23 board. The inside of the board has upper and lower groves to keep the plastic containers holding the stones snuggly in place. The board does click closed together but I would have preferred there to be a clasp of some sort to securely keep the board closed even if I decided to toss this board in the back seat of my car or if it were to fall to the ground while I'm driving. The magnetic surface is well made but it scratches easily from the magnets attached to the bottom of the pieces which isn't a big deal for this price point. The board does not lay perfectly flat however and there is a minor separation and rise in the middle of the board where the two pieces meet but it's very minor so you won't notice it unless if you were purposefully looking for imperfections. The stones are probably my biggest complaint. About 15 to 20 percent of the pieces had magnets on them which were not on the pieces perfectly flat. This caused me to have to apply pressure to them one by one in order to have the magnets on correctly. I hate extra work so I found this annoying but at least there is a simple fix. The magnets look snug enough into the prices so that I couldn't imagine them falling out of the pieces. The prices themselves feel a little too small for me and are awkward to hold when placing the stones but for a travel set at this price point it's hard to complain. All in all a great go board for the road or for use at windy outdoor locations. Great for kids as well but would not recommend this board for your main board to use at home because the pieces are too small to hold easily with any kind of satisfying click.

This was purchased for a beginning player. The set is study overall. The magnetic board is a great feature allowing the magnetized pieces to be held in place when the board is cleared from the table for dinner. The one little niggle is the magnets in the pieces could be a little stronger. The stones are well finished plastic and come in plastic tubs which can be stored inside the folded up board. The simple instruction book is just enough to get going on the game.

Really liked the board so far. It folds in half and has these two tubs that hold the go pieces. We use the lids to collect enemy captures. The stones are magnetic, so they stick to the board really well. The problem lies in taking pieces off the board, my hands are pretty big so i mess up positions sometimes while removing stones that are captured. Besides that, since the board is magnetic it can sometimes track dirt or rocks that are magnetic and it kind of keeps itself dirty. Though I could probably do better on that part myself. Besides that, I really like it and fully recommend it to anyone who enjoys a really fun board game. Provided you have someone to play with. Another thing, if you're a beginner and want to do more speedy games because a full board game takes me and my friend like an hour, get a smaller board like a 9x9 or 12x12 board size. The full-size board which is standard 19x19 (this one) isn't as noob friendly, but it does provide the full scope of the game. Cheers and good games.

It is well-made.

So, this is a mixed bag for the price. It is a travel go set, which means that the board is metal and that the pieces have magnets to hold them in place. The board itself is of nice quality and the closing nature works well. The interior playing piece containers do not remain closed on their own without the aid of being sandwiched between the closed halves of the board. The pieces were more of a concern as they were dumped into the box (perhaps my board was a return), with over 1/2 of them missing magnets which were loose and mixed in. Overall for the money, this was a fairly quality item despite my having to reassemble what felt like 100 pieces.

short summary: nice travel go board, nice look, has plastic stone bowls inside, the foldable board seal is ok. It is a good travel board, roughly a novel width size and fits in a backpack or a bag, and maybe even a jacket pocket if it has large pockets. The foldable board has a magnetic seal that seems adequate, but it's not too strong, so I would still be careful when carrying. There are two stone bowls inside with small inset grooves so they don't move around while travel. Of course, the stones are tiny because this is a tiny set, but they have a nice matte and rough surface making them look a bit like jungstone, so they their look doesn't scream 'plastic'. I like the look. The stones have magnets, but they are quite weak, so you can't really leave a game half-finished, fold it up and expect the stones to stay on, it's not a put-them-on-and-leave-them type of board. But the magnets can 100% hold the stones stationary through a car or train ride. pros: quite portable, nice looking, nothing moves during travel cons: the foldable board magnets are ok, stone magnets are weak, so be careful when carrying in hand

Ita great, pieces on the smaller side so be warned. Magnets work great, board is made well. Using it daily without issues

Full-size 19x19 board, locks nicely flat when opened. Stones well-made, storage containers tight and lock into circular frames inside the board. Three very minor bits of wistfulness rather than complaints. (1) It would be nice to have the 9x9 (at least) and 13x13 layouts chalked out on the board. [Such a board is available from YMI, which I also bought]. (2) The magnets are not *quite* strong enough to prevent a bit of sliding around, I suspect if you folded it and took it for a drive the floor would be scattered with little black and white stones. (3) For my course in Evolutionary Genetics, I had hoped that the stones would stick to each other only back to back, and with sufficient force to stay together. This allows simulations of 'bean bag genetics', where appropriate numbers of B & W alleles (stones) should come together at random to simulate Hardy-Weinberg proportions. Also, a sack can be seeded with an excess number of BB or WW combos, so as to simulate inbreeding, populations structure, F-statistics, and chance deviation. The stones are not quite able to do this, although I continue to experiment. [I do play Go, but this was my real reason for buying a magnetic set. So it goes]. 4) Many many years ago I read a magazine story about Go. Inspired, I laid out a 19x19 grid in pencil on a piece of pine board, and got a couple of sheets of black or white mosaic pieces at the craft store. Held on to it until my father moved into independent living. Wonder if anyone still has it?

Das magnetische Go-Brett ist ideal für Anfänger und als Einstieg geeignet, da das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis im Vergleich zu anderen Go-Brettern absolut in Ordnung ist. Man bekommt ausreichend Steine, die ebenfalls magnetisch sind. Theoretisch könnte man also sogar unterwegs im Auto spielen – was ich allerdings nicht empfehlen würde. Fällt nämlich einmal die Steinschale herunter, sucht man bei 180 Steinen ewig, und einige davon findet man vermutlich nie wieder. Das wäre dann ziemlich problematisch. Trotzdem ist es sehr praktisch, dass das Brett magnetisch ist und alle Magnete zuverlässig funktionieren. Ich kann dieses Produkt daher uneingeschränkt weiterempfehlen. Es ist solide verarbeitet, auch wenn es vollständig aus Kunststoff besteht. Doch in Anbetracht des Preises und der Ausstattung mit Magneten findet man so schnell nichts Vergleichbares. Ich habe außerdem zwei weitere Bretter derselben Firma bestellt – eines für chinesisches und eines für japanisches Schach – ebenfalls magnetisch und ebenfalls solide verarbeitet. Damit lässt sich hervorragend trainieren. In jedem Fall: eine klare Kaufempfehlung.

Good quality game, nicely packed.

The plastic board's edges were delivered all broken and could not even close it.