Help fund shygost's KGS Go lectures and keep them going

Last night on KGS, I caught the tail-end of one of shygost's lectures in Lance's Go Dojo (aka the LGD room under Rooms > Room List > Lessons > LGD). These lectures take place on Friday nights at 7:00pm, US Pacific Time.

Those of you who are familiar with shygost's lectures probably enjoy them quite a bit. He helps guide his listeners in how to evaluate a situation; how to think in Go. He's easy to understand, clear, and concise. Most beginners find his concepts easier to grasp.

These lectures are publicly-funded. Those of us who can, contribute a little cash to help keep the lectures going. Some donate as little as a dollar while others donate substantially more. It's similar to the way public television in America works; the programming is funded a great deal by altruism.

Well, as of yesterday, we had only enough money for two more lectures.

If you've very much enjoyed shy's lectures, you can help keep them going by donating whatever you can via PayPal on this page (the email address is lance@kemperpainting.com).

Your donation is never too small to make a difference. Fifty-cents here, a dollar there, five dollars here - they can all add-up thanks to the efforts of many. One good private lecture from a 6-dan would easily cost you $15 and a group lecture often costs $50. I think a personal or club contribution to shy's efforts is a great bargain.

Your efforts kept these lectures going almost every week for a full year in 2006. Let's try to keep it going for another year ... and beyond!


Super Yunzi from Yellow Mountain Imports

YMI's Size 42 Yunzis. Oh my!

Paired with huge Rosewood bowls.

Yellow Mountain Imports had recently made available their Super Yunzi in two sizes: Size 42 (11.9mm) and Size 38 (10.7mm). These are sold along with their Extra Large Rosewood bowls (with a matte finish) at prices of $350 and $250, respectively.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no other vendor outside of China that is offering Yunzi stones of these sizes. Pong Yen had told me that the widths of these stones conform to Japanese-standards so you can use them on any Japanese (and Chinese) goban.

These stones are a bit out of my personal budget but there's no doubt that their size and heft makes a rather imposing statement. In my humble opinion, they should probably be combined with YMI's Dragon-carved bamboo goban.

Comparison of Mr. Kuroki's Size 46 giant clam stone
to a typical Size 32.

The only stones that I know of that are thicker than these are Mr. Kuroki's Size 46 (13.1mm) Giant Clam stones. Those would cost about $770 along with your choice of Keyaki or Karin bowls that can fit them.