This autographed Goban came to Baduk Club from a go dealer in Saitama, Japan.
The board was signed by the 9dan professional player Cho Chikun (趙治勲). At the top he has inscribed the calligraphy 'Mirror' (明鏡). Go Board autographs tend to be indications of how the professional feels about Go, so this is likely a reference to Go being a Mirror for the mind.
Wikipedia has an extensive article about Cho Chikun, as he is one of the greatest players of our time with 76 total titles. In fact, he won over 60% of his 125 title matches, earning many nicknames including "The 7th Game Demon." He retains the title 25th Honorary Honinbo, on account of having won that tournament more than ten times.
The autograph is in very good shape. We can provide examples of previous autographs he has done to verify the authenticity of his signature, and we would be happy to send you a free copy of his Shikishi (use the discount code CHIKUN at checkout).
I like Cho Chikun a lot, so if you also follow him then you may also be interested in this 50mb scan, a copy of 28 weekly newspaper columns about Cho Chikun from 2020 and 2021 which covered interesting episodes (some as far back as 60 years ago) in his long career, along with illustrative photos.
Back to the board, though: The board itself has a warm color heartwood. It has many of the hallmarks of Katsura. A deep red heartwood color sufficiently covers the entire playing surface, and only toward the lower corners do we see the lighter sapwood from the exterior of the trunk. This is a Kiura cut, the most preferred style for a Plain-sawn board, and it shows off the growth rings of the tree on the ends where the players will sit. The sides of the board have straight lines, and soft heartwood ripples appear on the playing surface like wind on water (this grain is sometimes called Cathedral or Flame). The grid is the traditional Tachimori, a raised-lacquer style. Overall the board looks very clean and well-kept.
Shipping Details:
FedEx International Priority shipping from Japan (to almost everywhere) is already included in the purchase price. This service reduces the shipping time to only 5 business days. Please allow up to 1 week for us to pack your order and complete the Customs forms, then we will email you tracking notifications.
