The “Brilliant” Move That Lost the Game

A true story of how I got high on Stockfish praise and immediately got destroyed.

So there I was.
Feeling sharp. Focused. I’d just dodged a sketchy opening trap, and my opponent was confused. Then—BOOM—I spot this glorious tactic. Knight sac. Bishop sac. It looked like I was painting art on the board.

And then it happened...

✨ BRILLIANT ✨
Thank you, Chess.com. Thank you, engine gods.
I fist-pumped the air. I felt like Tal and Hikaru had just high-fived me from the spirit realm.
I was READY to post this masterpiece in every chess group I know.

But then...

My opponent…
Didn’t resign.
Didn’t panic.
Didn’t even hesitate.

They just calmly played a quiet move — some weird-looking bishop check — and I blinked. Suddenly, the eval bar went from +4 to -12.

I froze.

“Wait… that wasn’t part of the plan.”
I looked closer. I was getting mated in 3. I lost all my pieces in the name of “brilliance,” and now I’m being hunted like a lost pawn on f7.

I just sat there staring at the screen like:

💀 “What have I done…”