I analyzed the board and saw that our two O’s in row 4 (at columns 3 and 4) can be extended into a potential horizontal connect‐4. By dropping our piece into column 2, it will land in row 4 (since row 5 is already occupied) and give us O’s in columns 2, 3, and 4. This sets up an immediate win threat (since on our next turn we could complete the line by playing in column 5) that our opponent must block. This move creates a strong positional threat without giving our opponent an easy counter opportunity, so I choose column 2.