
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
There are  $k$  piles of stones with  $2020$  stones in each pile. Amber can choose any two non-empty piles of stones, and Barbara can take one stone from one of the two chosen piles and puts it into the other pile. Amber wins if she can eventually make an empty pile. What is the least  $k$  such that Amber can always win?

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