A term most often used to mock people who try to present their
incompetence as a part of a greater strategy or mind game (which may exist, but usually does not).
A less ironic sense of the word is often used to refer to fictional storylines where characters come to power through intrigue,
manipulation, and/or gaslighting, often mocking them if this plot device is used in a very over-the-top, unrealistic way. The rise of Palpatine is
one of the most prominent examples, since manufacturing a civil war along with decades of political tension through several secret identities, four generations of brainwashed agents, and a mentally stunted alien senator is far from realism
"I don't get why
everyone thinks he's playing some kind of 4D chess. He's clearly just spouting
nonsense."
"I love the action scenes in prequels, but Palpatine's 4D chess kinda ruins the
immersion."