I analyzed the board and noticed that while there is no immediate win, we can set up future winning opportunities by reinforcing our central control. Dropping an O in column 2 will place our piece in row 4 (since row 5 is already occupied in that column) next to our existing O in column 3, building a horizontal pair and opening diagonal possibilities. This move increases our potential to create a connect‐4 later, without giving the opponent any immediate advantage.