Vintage Japanese GO wooden board game, white and black stones

Includes wooden foldable “board,” white & black stones contained in their own boxes, game play booklet and carry all box. The overall box has some fading due to age. The stone pieces, wooden board, and booklet are in terrific vintage condition. This smaller game board is perfect for the novice, learning how to play the game.Go is an adversarial game between 2 players with the objective of capturing territory. That is, occupying and surrounding a larger total empty area of the board with one's stones than the opponent. As the game progresses, the players place stones on the board creating stone "formations" and enclosing spaces. Another essential component of the game is control of the sente (that is, controlling the offense, so that one's opponent is forced into defensive moves); this usually changes several times during play. Initially the board is bare, & players alternate turns to place one stone per turn. As the game proceeds, players try to link their stones together into "living" formations (meaning that they are permanently safe from capture), as well as threaten to capture their opponent's stones and formations. Novices often start by randomly placing stones on the board, as if it were a game of chance. An understanding of how stones connect for greater power develops, and then a few basic common opening sequences may be understood. Go is one of the 3 oldest games that enjoys worldwide popularity, along with chess and backgammon. A game collector’s must have!