Because white has the black king pinned, in fact white can move his rook to most of the row 6 squares with impunity, and still create a similar checkmate. For example, if white's first move is to a6+, then Kd7, followed by Rd1 etc, gives the same outcome and the chess computer should allow for multiple endings that are equal in number of moves, rather than subtracting points unless the chosen option is taken......