I analyzed the board for opportunities and potential threats. Although there's no immediate winning move by dropping an O that creates four in a row, playing in column 1 will place my piece in row 3, joining the existing Os at columns 2 and 3 in row 3 and establishing a horizontal threat. This move sets up a possible future win by lining up a fourth O in that row, while not giving my opponent any immediate advantage. Therefore, I choose column 1.