
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 a game board with $64$ squares, alternating in color between black and white in a standard 8x8 chessboard layout, where square $P$ is a white square located in the bottom row and square $Q$ is a black square located in the top row, find the number of $8$-step paths from $P$ to $Q$.

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