
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 piece can move one cell to the right, up, or down. How many ways are there to move from cell \(a\) to cell \(b\) on the grid shown in the picture, avoiding the shaded cells? (The piece cannot move to cells it has already visited.)

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