@Purplelibraryguy I really have no idea how good the shogi is in 3-gatsu, but as a go player, this one seems a bit weird at times. Not crazy "I'm gonna steal third base and score a touchdown on the wicket" level of bullshit, but more like the author has a decent grasp on go (probably better than mine, tbh, I'm just a random 1 kyu) but forces symbolism way too hard, for example the whole "I'm gonna capture everything" vs. "no stone left behind". I mean, both tendencies exist, especially in young amateurs, and the author does justice to the individuality and expressiveness that go can have, but I never felt like 3-gatsu had to clobber you over the head with in-game metaphors to get the characters across.
With that in mind, though, as you said not everyone can be Umino Chica and this is still pretty good. And, I mean, I'm still reading crap like "Reincarnated at lvl1 as an omniscient loli garbage compactor", so it can only be a step up.