
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
A game board consists of $100$ squares arranged in a 10x10 grid, alternating in color between black and white. A marker is placed on a black square $P$ located at the bottom row and needs to move to a white square $Q$ in the top row through exactly 9 steps. Each step must involve moving the marker to an adjoining white square in the row directly above. Find the number of possible 9-step paths from $P$ to $Q$.

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