I'm going to try to show all of my reading in this game. My game against loons sort of degenerated into a conversation ...

Redundant is stronger than I am, so this should be a good challenge for me. As for the start, I chose from these 6 moves completely at random:

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[go]$$B
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . , . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . b c . . |
$$ | . . , . d e f . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . , . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

I just happened to get tengen. I would not be surprised to see any of those moves in response.

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . c . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . X . d . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . 1 a , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

I've seen a-d in response to this approach. My style as black is to usually play a and try to build a wall and split the board in two. It's generally thought that against a "tengen" opening from black white needs to make two living groups.

For b, which MHO seems to have chosen, I've been experimenting with this. I then aim at invading at a. I'm unsure how well this works out. I need to play it in a bunch more games to judge.

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . , . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . , . X 3 , . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . 1 . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

For c, I usually do something like this

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 3 . . . . |
$$ | . . , . 2 . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . X . , . . |
$$ | . . 5 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . 1 . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

Against d ... I usually lose.

I'm curious about the attach:

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . . . , . . |
$$ | . . . . 3 2 . . . |
$$ | . . , . X 1 , . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . O . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

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[go]$$Wcm1 More peaceful?
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . 2 . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . , . X . , . . |
$$ | . . B . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . , . O . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

I'm aiming to settle this group, and then play the 3-3 point in the upper left.

Spent a lot of time thinking about if I could just extend. In the end it seemed to hard to maintain the lead:

Finish the shape. Not sure if this opening is good for white. Haven't played it enough to see how it ends.

I thought he would cut...

I'm baffled how white could play his previous move with so little thought. It seems almost game over already now? If white just plays hane-connect endgame it's completely hopeless:

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[go]$$Wcm1 Black wins easily
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 6 . |
$$ | . . , . , . 2 3 8 |
$$ | . . . . X X 1 4 . |
$$ | . . , . X O 5 7 . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . 0 , . O . , . . |
$$ | . . 9 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

Conclusion: white must invade now:

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . , . , . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . , . X O , . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . , . O . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

I might be wrong but I don't see how this invasion can end up doing anything else than getting killed with zero aji... Black looks much too strong now...

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . , . , . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . X O , . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . , . O . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . , . , . . |
$$ | . 2 . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . , . X O , . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . , . O . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

Some ideas. Need to
Not digging this opening sequence. One would think that I'd read all this out, but the branching factor is really high in the opening of 9x9, and I'm bad at pruning.

Sorry, not much time for comments. I will try to add more later.

Black's last move surprised me, seems like giving white an easier time at making life. In my opinion, B6 and D8 seem much more promising.

One thing I love about go is how often I get surprised. I wouldn't consider my opponent's move here.

As for my move, I'm aiming at forcing moves with the atari. I'm also aiming at cutting off his C4 stone if he'll let me.

This is a mess. I've looked at a ton of variations, but right now I'm somewhat tired, so I might add some later.

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 6 2 5 . . . . . |
$$ | 4 . O 1 , . , . . |
$$ | . O X . X X . . . |
$$ | . 3 , . X O , . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . , . O . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O 1 , . , . . |
$$ | . O X . X X . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . X O , . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . , . O . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

[sgf-full](;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2]
RU[Japanese]SZ[9]KM[0.00]
GN[]DT[2011-05-12]PC[http://lifein19x19.com/]CR[dc]AW[cc][bd][fe][ff][eg]AB[dc][cd][ed][fd][ee][cf]C[Diagram from http://lifein19x19.com/

]PL[B]
;B[]
;W[cb]
(;B[db]
(;W[ac]C[Alive])
(;W[be]C[Alive]))
(;B[be]
;W[ac]C[Tripod]))[/sgf-full]

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ +-------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 O 1 . . . . . |
$$ | O . O X , . 5 7 . |
$$ | . O X . X X 4 . . |
$$ | . X , . X O 6 . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . , 3 O . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +-------------------+[/go]

Not sure if it's good enough to live in gote here, but it's my only option.