All you need to do in this game is count to 2.
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[go]$$Wc How many weak groups does white have?
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . W X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . X . W . W X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . C . . . X . W . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . W . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
White has 2 weak groups, and they are even near each other on the board. If you attack both of them and then find a move that attacks both at once you will likely win from that alone. This is called a splitting attack. Any move you make on this board should be in the upper right quadrant.
Another important principle in the opening is that there are 5 steps:
1. Corners
2. Enclosures/Approaches to corners
3. Large Side Extensions
4. Small Side Extensions
5. Vertical Moves (toward the center)
Still, in this board, any move should be in the upper right. That is the urgent area - as Bill said: "Urgent moves before big moves." However, if you are going to play a big move, there are two 3-4 stones that can be approached.
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[go]$$Bc  is Step 3 before Step 2
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . X . O . O X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
There are plenty of exceptions to this general list of rules - for example,  to make a framework was not a bad move just because it didn't follow this. However, if you stick to these rules after the initial opening moves you will rarely go wrong.
As you approached the mid-game you also played move  on the side in the lower right. It again should have been in the upper right, but it also wasn't an approach to white's corner. It seemed like you were trying to do two things at once, which is a good idea, but a move that does two things weakly is rarely better than a move that does one thing very well. Move  is the same.
Thankfully, at move  your opponent gives you a second weak group and he even lets you split them solidly by peeping at  .
The hane at  was very painful for black. That move should have been yours. The double hane just made it all the better for white.
Probably my favorite move of your was  . It seems to both build the potential of a black center while preparing strongly to attack the weak group white made at . Sadly you never got to make your attack. A hane at J8, or perhaps extending to J9, would have been a stronger reply to the white attachment. You might possibly even come back and attack directly with H12 or some such move. It will be very hard for the white group to live once it is totally surrounded.
 seems to be where white's greed got the better of him. However, he was then able to save his group, so all was not lost. He seemed to have failed to notice that your center group was immortal at this point since it could capture the white stones, otherwise he would not have tried to attack it.
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XASFLTLEOU.sgf [2.92 KiB]
You are attacking. Do not let White get a good play, the hane at N-16. Play there yourself. Then, assuming that White jumps out, pincer the White stones on the right side.