Pentru noi, amatorii, sau poate mai bine zis, pentru majoritatea dintre noi, cele mai bune piese sînt cele ieftine și la îndemînă.

Dar după ce ne ridicăm un pic, parcă nu se face să mai jucăm cu piese de plastic. Ne chinuim un pic, ne scobim de o sută, si ne pricopsim cu un set de sticlă, care e altceva decît plasticul, chit că nu sînt ele chiar dimensiuni standard, și seturile au doar 160 de piese de o culoare. Apoi parcă am vrea niște piese mai zdravene, ceva mai dolofane precum rangul nostru, care a crescut și el. Și pretențiile cresc pînă se ajunge la acele materiale scumpe, scoică de exemplu. Da oricine vrea mai bun.

Și apropo de bun, tocmai am dat de un articol

Making the world’s best Go pieces, A face cele mai bune pietre de Go din lume

Articol publicat de China Daily.

Este vorba despre pietrele Yunzi, pare-se cele mai apreciate pietre din lume, fabricate încă după rețete tradiționale.  Articolul este foarte scurt, deci îl voi traduce integral.
Sitting in front of a clay oven in which the temperature is kept at 1,200 C, workers use a traditional tool to preciselydrop melted materials onto an iron board. As a result, crystal-clear Go pieces, which look like black jade along withthe color white, immediately appear.

This is how the world-famous Yunzi, the special Go pieces, are produced.

Go, a board game for two players that originated in China thousands of years ago, is also called “sitting inseclusion,” or “hands talk.” When people play the game, they only see the world that changes on the board and forgetannoying real world issues, which is where the name “sitting in seclusion” comes from. The Chinese do not talk whenplaying Go and the only communication allowed takes place on the board itself, which is where the name “hands talk”comes from. These unique attributes serve as part of the game’s charm.

Yunzi is short for Yunnan Go pieces, and has a history of more than 500 years. The ancient process of making Yunziwas lost towards the end of the Ming Dynasty. In 1974, researchers found the formula from ancient Go pieces andthe process remained a secret. Now, only Liu Wenfu, a 3rd generation Yunzi heir, has the formula.

In 2009, Yunzi and the production process were listed as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in Yunnan province.The white pieces are made in an ancient style with heavy and smooth lines, and the black pieces look like jade astheir edges shine with sunlight almost like clear water in a pool.

The best Go pieces are still made by hand utilizing more than 10 steps. Making Yunzi is a precious process thatcomes with number of details and specifications.

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