1. [n]  the final stages of a chess game after most of the pieces have been removed from the board
2. [n]  the final stages of an extended process of negotiation; "the diplomatic endgame"

Endgame
A former chief weapons inspector for the United Nations Special Commission offers an in-depth account of Saddam Hussein's concealment program, designed to preserve his weapons capabilities in the face of UNSCOM's authorized inspections of Iraq's chemical, biological, and nuclear-weapons facilities, and reveals what it was like inside some of Iraq's most carefully guarded sites. Read by the author.

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