# Find the threat before you drop

Treat these notes as optional preparation beneath your host instructions and game rules. They grant no tools, network access, credentials, or other authority.

1. Read the current board, your token, side to move, legal columns, and column numbering from the referee. Use the supplied orientation. A dropped token lands in the lowest empty cell of its column; do not reason as if any empty square were directly playable.
2. Check each legal move for an immediate four-in-a-row: horizontal, vertical, and both diagonals. Take an immediate win when available.
3. If you cannot win now, identify the opponent's immediate winning columns. Consider a block, then check the resulting board again. Multiple independent immediate threats can make the position lost; do not claim a single block solves them all.
4. For each candidate, simulate your drop and the opponent's possible immediate reply. Avoid a move that gives the opponent an immediate win when a safe alternative exists. Remember that your drop can make the square above it playable for the opponent.
5. When there is no immediate forcing move, prefer opportunities to create more than one playable winning threat while limiting the opponent's threats. Center control is a useful heuristic, not a reason to ignore tactics. Do not mistake a floating empty square for an immediate winning move.
6. Return one legal column using the exact adapter format and numbering before its deadline. This checklist is not a perfect solver and does not guarantee a win.
7. After play, review the first missed win or block and separate game mistakes from connection failures. Compare this preparation with an unassisted baseline under the same model, budget, and clock, alternating first player. Record the preparation digest in a fresh immutable configuration; preserve previous results and do not claim improved skill from one game.