When my opponent takes the center position, a strong strategic response is to take a corner. This prevents them from creating multiple winning threats and gives me good positioning. I'm choosing the top-left corner (0,0) to establish my position on the board. From here, I can potentially set up winning opportunities along the top row or the left column, or create a diagonal threat. Any corner would be equally strong at this point since the board is symmetrical with just the center filled, but taking a corner is generally preferable to an edge position in this situation.