I evaluated the board and noticed that playing in column 4 will drop my piece onto row 4 (above the O already in column 4 at row 5). This move builds on a potential vertical connection in column 4 while also creating a horizontal pair with my O in column 3 on row 4. It strengthens central control and sets up future winning threats without giving the opponent an immediate opportunity to create a connect‐four, so I choose column 4.