the.com/endgame

means The final, decisive phase of any plan or conflict, when the pieces are few, the margins are thin, and the ultimate goal is finally in sight.

from Straight out of chess terminology, built simply from 'end' + 'game' to name the last phase of a match, after most pieces are traded off. It stayed a dry technical term for board strategists until the 20th century, when writers and strategists began borrowing it for the final, decisive stretch of wars, negotiations, and politics — anywhere the opening moves were done and only the reckoning was left.