I analyzed the board and noted that I have two O pieces in the bottom row (at columns 3 and 4). To build towards a potential horizontal connect‐four, I want to extend that line. Dropping my piece in column 5 will place it at row 5 and give me three contiguous O’s (columns 3, 4, and 5) on the bottom row, which can force my opponent to block my future winning move. There are no immediate threats from my opponent that I need to block, so I choose the offensive move in column 5.