Okay, here is the answer:

Here is the labeling of the 9 positions from before. 

A  B  C
D  E  F
G  H  I

A-B-C-F-E-B-A-D-G-H-E-B-C-F-E-B-A-D-G-H-E-B-C-F-E-B-A-D-G-H-E-B-C-F-E-H-G-D-E-H-I

= short solution, gives 3 as final answer.

A-B-C-F-E-B-A-D-G-H-E-B-C-F-E-B-A-D-G-H-E-B-C-F-E-H-G-D-E-B-C-F-E-B-A-D-G-H-E-B-C-F-E-H-G-D-E-H-G-D-E-H-I

= long solution, gives 2 as final answer.

Back to the maze.