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."