Skipping if statement python tic-tac-toe [duplicate]

This question already has an answer here:

• Why does `a == b or c or d` always evaluate to True? [duplicate] 1 answer
• How do I test one variable against multiple values? 16 answers

Can anyone explain to me why I still get an error?

board = [['#', '#', '#'],['#', '#', '#'],['#', '#', '#']]

def player_1(board):
a = int(raw_input('Choose position 1-9\n'))
if a == 1 or 2 or 3:
    if board[0][a-1] == '#':
        board[0][a-1] = 'x'
    else:
        print 'Move invalid, place is taken.'
        player_1(board)
if a == 4 or 5 or 6:
    if board[1][a-4] == '#':
        board[1][a-4] = 'x'
    else:
        print 'Move invalid, place is taken.'
        player_1(board)
if a == 7 or 8 or 9:
    if board[2][a-7] == '#':
        board[2][a-7] = 'x'
    else:
        print 'Move invalid, place is taken.'
        player_1(board)

When my raw_input = 4, I get this error message:

if board[0][a-1] == '#':
IndexError: list index out of range

Why does it not skip the first if statement?