Brilliant move
A brilliant move is a label some analysis tools give to a strong, hard-to-find move, often a sacrifice, that the engine confirms keeps or improves the position despite looking risky.
Also called: brilliancy
The term brilliancy has long been used for a game or move of unusual beauty, and some analysis software now applies an automatic label to moves of that type. The rules are not standard: different tools compute it differently, but it usually requires that the move be among the best, that it give up material or look unnatural, and that the position not already be completely won. A club player may see the badge on a piece sacrifice that worked or on a quiet move that set up a tactic. The common mistake is playing for the badge, throwing pieces away in the hope of a prize. An unsound sacrifice against sensible defense simply loses. Another mistake is dismissing a brilliancy as luck when you found it, since the calculation behind it is real. A good habit is to study the moves that earned the label in your own games and ask what pattern made them work. Those patterns, such as a deflection or a mating net, are worth remembering.
An engine can tell you what "Brilliant move" means for a position, but not which mistakes you keep making; a first lesson with George Li reviews your games and finds those.
Related terms
A sacrifice is a deliberate decision to give up material, such as a pawn, an exchange or a piece, in return for something else, like mate, a stronger attack, a better structure or a larger gain later.
A combination is a forcing sequence of moves, usually built from sacrifices and checks, in which every move leaves the opponent few or no choices and the sequence ends in a concrete gain such as mate or material.
A quiet move is a move that makes no capture and gives no check, yet creates a decisive threat or removes the opponent's last defense, so it is easy to overlook among more forcing moves.
The best move is the move an engine rates highest in a given position after searching, usually shown first in its list of candidate lines and marked with the strongest evaluation.
A game review is an automatic engine pass over a finished game that marks each move, shows how the evaluation changed and points out the turning points, mistakes and missed chances.
Calculation is the skill of mentally working out concrete sequences of moves and replies, one line at a time, to judge what a position really offers before committing to a move.
Guides that go further
What to decide first, the questions to ask, what a first lesson should show and the red flags to avoid.
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A game review, a read on your level and a written study plan from George Li.
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