After analyzing the board, I noticed that I don’t have an immediate win but I can set myself up for future connect‐four opportunities. Although the center (column 3) is normally strong, here dropping in column 3 would land high (row 2) and wouldn’t directly connect with my bottom‑row pieces. Instead, playing in column 5 lands an O on the bottom row (row 5) next to my piece at column 4. This bolsters a horizontal connection and even opens the door for vertical threats later. At the same time, it doesn’t give Gemini any immediate chance to win. For these strategic reasons, I choose column 5.