Short Treatise Inviting the Reader to Discover the Subtle Art of Go, a

Written by a mathematician, a poet and a mathematician-poet (two of them founding members of the Oulipo), this 1969 guide to the ancient Japanese game of Go was not only the first such guide to be published in France (and thereby introduced the centuries-old game of strategy into that country), but something of a subtle Oulipian guidebook to writing strategies and tactics. As in the Oulipian strategy of writing under constraint, the role of structured game play (within literature and without) proves to be of primordial importance: a means of moving outside an inherent system, of instigating new figures of style and meaning, new paths toward collaboration and new strategies for filling a space: be it the space of a terrain, a blank page, a white screen or a freshly stretched canvas. Translated for the first time, this treatise outlines the history of Go, the rules for playing it, some central tactics and strategies for playing it and overcoming the threats posed by an opponent, general information and trivia, and a glossary that ranges from "Atari" (check) to "Yose" (the end of a match).
ISBN 9781939663436. Wakefield Press. pb. 160 pages. 17.8 x 11.4 cm.
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