different between checkmate vs endgame

English

Etymology

From Middle English chekmat, from Old French eschec mat, from Arabic ???? ?????? (š?h m?ta), from Persian ??? ???? (šâh mât, “the king [is] dead”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t???kme?t/
• Rhymes: -e?t

Interjection

checkmate

1. (chess) Word called out by the victor when making a move that wins the game.
2. (by extension) Said when one has placed a person in a losing situation with no escape.

Alternative forms

• check and mate

Synonyms

• (chess): mate

Translations

Noun

checkmate (countable and uncountable, plural checkmates)

1. The conclusive victory in a game of chess that occurs when an opponent's king is threatened with unavoidable capture.
2. (figuratively, by extension) Any losing situation with no escape; utter defeat.

Related terms

• stalemate

Translations

Verb

checkmate (third-person singular simple present checkmates, present participle checkmating, simple past and past participle checkmated)

1. (transitive, chess) To put the king of an opponent into checkmate.

2. (transitive, by extension) To place in a losing situation that has no escape.

Translations

References

English

Alternative forms

• end game, end-game

Etymology

From end +? game.

Noun

endgame (plural endgames)

1. (chess) The final stage of a game of chess, when there are few pieces left. [1884]
   • 1884 April 12, Horwitz, The Academy, p. 256:

     The real end game consists of a position where the method can be analytically demonstrated by which the slightly superior force can win.

2. (bridge) The final stage of a game of bridge, when there are few cards left.
   • 1952, Iain Macleod, Bridge Is an Easy Game, p. 190:

     Bridge writing tends to concentrate on the end game.

3. (figuratively) The final stage of an extended process or course of events, especially with the implication of the imminent realization of a masterful strategy or plan.
   • 2019 April 25, Heather Schwedel, "The Myth of the Endgame" in Slate:

     Like optics, it’s one of those buzzwords, beloved by pundits, that implies its users are smarter than everyone else, because they see another level that most people don’t in political machinations. In meme parlance, you may ask “Why?” but ah, an intellectual asks, “What’s the endgame?”

4. (video games) The gameplay available in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game for players who have completed all of the preset challenges.

Coordinate terms

• (chess): checkmate, middlegame, opening

Translations

References

• “end, n.”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1891

Anagrams

• manèged