
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Given an \( n \times n \) square board, with \( n \) even. Two distinct squares of the board are said to be adjacent if they share a common side, but a square is not adjacent to itself. Find the minimum number of squares that can be marked so that every square (marked or not) is adjacent to at least one marked square.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user