diff --git a/onDeviceAi/src/desktopMain/kotlin/com/example/ondeviceai/litertlm/LitertLmTextGenerator.kt b/onDeviceAi/src/desktopMain/kotlin/com/example/ondeviceai/litertlm/LitertLmTextGenerator.kt
index 1026818..4090386 100644
--- a/onDeviceAi/src/desktopMain/kotlin/com/example/ondeviceai/litertlm/LitertLmTextGenerator.kt
+++ b/onDeviceAi/src/desktopMain/kotlin/com/example/ondeviceai/litertlm/LitertLmTextGenerator.kt
@@ -104,7 +104,16 @@ class LitertLmTextGenerator(
             }
 
             if (output.isNotEmpty()) {
-                emit(AiTokenOrFinal.Token(output.toString()))
+                // Qwen3 (the default .litertlm model) emits <think>…</think>
+                // chain-of-thought blocks before its answer. Strip them so the
+                // Move Coach never shows internal deliberation to the user — and
+                // so downstream validation (MoveCoachResponseValidator) judges
+                // only the delivered answer, not the reasoning. Matches both a
+                // closed <think>…</think> and an unterminated trailing <think>….
+                val cleaned = stripThinkBlocks(output.toString())
+                if (cleaned.isNotEmpty()) {
+                    emit(AiTokenOrFinal.Token(cleaned))
+                }
             }
             // getTokenCount() is @ExperimentalApi in litertlm-jvm and BenchmarkInfo is
             // gated too; we avoid both and derive a rough token count from output length
@@ -174,5 +183,25 @@ class LitertLmTextGenerator(
         const val DEFAULT_CONTEXT_SIZE = 1024
         const val DEFAULT_TOP_K = 40
         const val DEFAULT_TOP_P = 1.0
+
+        // Matches <think>…</think> (case-insensitive, DOTALL so it spans newlines).
+        // LiteRT-LM's Qwen3 model emits chain-of-thought before its answer; the
+        // Move Coach contract wants only the delivered answer, so [generate]
+        // strips these blocks before emitting. The unterminated variant catches
+        // a <think> the model opened but never closed (generation cut off).
+        private val THINK_BLOCK = Regex("(?is)<think>.*?</think>")
+        private val THINK_UNTERMINATED = Regex("(?is)<think>.*")
+
+        /**
+         * Remove `<think>…</think>` chain-of-thought blocks from [text]. Handles
+         * both closed blocks and an unterminated trailing `<think>`. Returns the
+         * cleaned text, trimmed. If no `<think>` is present, returns the text
+         * trimmed. Public on the companion so it can be unit-tested directly.
+         */
+        fun stripThinkBlocks(text: String): String {
+            var cleaned = THINK_BLOCK.replace(text, "")
+            cleaned = THINK_UNTERMINATED.replace(cleaned, "")
+            return cleaned.trim()
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/onDeviceAi/src/desktopTest/kotlin/com/example/ondeviceai/litertlm/LitertLmTextGeneratorStripThinkTest.kt b/onDeviceAi/src/desktopTest/kotlin/com/example/ondeviceai/litertlm/LitertLmTextGeneratorStripThinkTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47e41b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/onDeviceAi/src/desktopTest/kotlin/com/example/ondeviceai/litertlm/LitertLmTextGeneratorStripThinkTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package com.example.ondeviceai.litertlm
+
+import kotlin.test.Test
+import kotlin.test.assertEquals
+import kotlin.test.assertTrue
+import com.example.ondeviceai.litertlm.LitertLmTextGenerator.Companion.stripThinkBlocks
+
+/**
+ * Tests for [LitertLmTextGenerator.stripThinkBlocks] — the CoT-stripping that
+ * keeps the Move Coach from leaking Qwen3's `<think>` deliberation to the user.
+ *
+ * Desktop-only because LitertLmTextGenerator is desktop-only. The cases mirror
+ * the real outputs observed from the LiteRT-LM driver: a leading `<think>…</think>`
+ * block followed by the final answer, and the unterminated edge case.
+ */
+class LitertLmTextGeneratorStripThinkTest {
+
+    @Test
+    fun `strips a closed think block and keeps the answer`() {
+        val raw = "<think>Let me consider this move. Does it give check? No.</think>\nNf3 develops the knight."
+        assertEquals("Nf3 develops the knight.", stripThinkBlocks(raw))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `strips think block with newlines inside`() {
+        val raw = "<think>\nOkay, the move is g1 to h3.\nThis develops the knight.\n</think>\n\nNh3 develops the knight toward the edge."
+        assertEquals("Nh3 develops the knight toward the edge.", stripThinkBlocks(raw))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `strips an unterminated trailing think block`() {
+        // A generation cut off mid-reasoning: <think> opened but never closed.
+        val raw = "Nh3 develops the knight. <think>Wait, let me reconsider whether"
+        assertEquals("Nh3 develops the knight.", stripThinkBlocks(raw))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `returns_text_unchanged_when_no_think_block`() {
+        val raw = "Nf3 develops the knight toward the center."
+        assertEquals("Nf3 develops the knight toward the center.", stripThinkBlocks(raw))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `handles_case_insensitive_think_tag`() {
+        val raw = "<THINK>reasoning</THINK>Answer."
+        assertEquals("Answer.", stripThinkBlocks(raw))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `returns_empty_string_for_input_that_was_only_think`() {
+        assertEquals("", stripThinkBlocks("<think>all reasoning, no answer</think>"))
+    }
+}