Dwyrin

Dwyrin is the Internet identity of a US based amateur high dan who does online teaching and demonstrations of Go games, primarily via his youtube channel.

The channel features two series: "back to basics" on Fridays and "Murder Monday".

Basics

Dwyrin's basics are, non-exhaustively

• first corners, then sides, then center
• territory rather than influence - influence is harder to play with
• protect your weak groups first
  • when "behind enemy lines", defend - usually by jumping across the sector line or making a base
  • weakness depends on proximity of own/enemy stones, clear weak points or cutting points

• make shape and poke at your opponent's shape
• aim for sente - always ask yourself: "do I have to respond here?"
• find the biggest area - an easy heuristic here is the number of empty points between two stones (usually corner positions)
• an enclosure and its extension are miai: if your opponent takes one, you take the other
• when invading, look for multiple options (jumping out, making a base)
• there is no reason to fight. Usually the thing (a stone, a piece of territory) is not worth fighting over. Just take larger points
  • the outcome of a fight is unpredictable; in particular you might lose sente and it's the opponent who takes a large point
  • you can't always back off though: when your opponent does something unreasonable, he shouldn't get away with that easily

He's mildly critical of the new variations introduced by AI bots, notably the early 3-3 invasion, or at least advises against its mindless imitation.

Dwyrin has coined the term winning condition as a mental device for determining your strategy.

Here is a meta-video on his basic series. Some quotes

• "don't rely on a crutch"
• "your opponent will give you many opportunities to show your superior direction of play"

Basics exist on many levels. Here's his video about basics on double digit kyu level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltGBqeYVf7o