Brilliancy
A chess game containing a spectacular, deep, and often unexpected winning idea, combination, or plan.
Brilliancies are sometimes formally recognized at tournaments with a "best game" prize, and the term implies not just a win but a genuinely memorable or beautiful sequence of moves.
Etymology
"Brilliancy" is a straightforward extension of the ordinary English adjective "brilliant" — exceptionally impressive or skillful — into a chess-specific noun describing a game containing a spectacular, original, and often deeply calculated winning combination or plan. The usage reflects a broader 19th-century culture of chess as public spectacle and published entertainment, when annotated game collections and newspaper chess columns actively celebrated and reprinted the most dazzling combinations of the era — games like Adolf Anderssen's 1851 "Immortal Game" and 1852 "Evergreen Game" set the template for what a brilliancy looks like, and some tournaments to this day award a formal "brilliancy prize" to the best such game of the event, distinct from the tournament's overall winner.
Translations
Translations for this term haven't been added yet.