[yesenadam]

[Off topic] I'm a chess fan/player, and that 'endgame/end game' metaphor always confuses me (and a lot of players) and seems wrong. It seems to just mean endy things like result, final result, outcome, final phase etc.

In chess games, often there is no endgame - the game ends in the middlegame, or sometimes even in the opening. If there is an endgame, not uncommonly most of the whole game is the endgame, 60% or 70% or more.

In movies, almost every time you see people playing, someone moves and says "Checkmate", which is also, I guess, around the time meant by 'end game' - right at the end of the game. That's just not much like what the word means in chess. except, sure, it's the last of 3 phases (opening, middlegame, endgame).

[CydeWeys]

It's not widely perceived as a Chess metaphor anymore; like David S. Pumpkins, it's its own thing.