the.com/zugzwang
The cruel moment when your only legal move is the one that ruins you.
means A situation, originally in chess, where any move you make worsens your position, yet you must move.
from German Zug (move) plus Zwang (compulsion): literally move-compulsion, lifted from 19th-century chess theory into everyday despair.
Chess originA passing move would save you, but rules forbid it.
Beyond the boardNow describes any forced-to-act-and-lose dilemma.
Mutual flavorBoth players cursed at once is zugzwang squared.