One thing that wasn't clear is if you have gains.......you first get to offset all the losses against the gains (not just up to 3,000). Then after applying the loss to the current gains you can take an additional max loss of 3,000 per year. So you can use up more of the loss in one year.
So you can sell 6,000 of gains and use up 6,000 of the loss and then still take the remaining 3,000 loss to deduct on your tax return to use up the whole 9,000. Does that make sense?
