Endings, time pieces and chess pieces.

And so another chess tournament comes to an end. MY chess player is not over-impressed with his own performance but then, he rarely is these days. He is a hard task master to himself, very self-critical. Unlike others who this morning have just not turned up, leaving others without opponents - an easy point gained but that's not really what it's all about. 

The young chess player whose parents gave us a lift this morning was wandering the playing area a bit aimlessly, his opponent having opted not to arrive. We suggested to his mother that they might like to leave early and we would get another lift but the young man was almost certainly in for an age-related prize so they would be staying for the prize-giving. It's really only polite to do so anyway. 

The day started with mist and lower temperatures. I was at the bread shop early. The older bread shop lady was all wrapped up in her woolly shawl, telling me how cold it was. Actually it was quite a welcome change! And at least the playing area at the tournament was, for once, not too hot. 

I was reading about new apps for the Apple watch. It's strange how things come around. For quite some time now, young people have not been wearing watches. In fact, it's not just young people. It seems that the majority of people use their phone as a time piece. I am in a minority, being a person who prefers to wear a wristwatch. 

But the Apple watch of the future is apparently going to be able to monitor the state of your body even more than it does at the moment when it just seems to count steps and calories. Our daughter and our eldest granddaughter both has Apple watches. How long before the younger grandchildren also acquire them? Will the ability to read an analogue timepiece become a thing of the past? 

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said, “One day, we will look back and wonder: how can I ever have gone without the Watch? Because the holy grail of the Watch is being able to monitor more and more of what's going on in the body.” 

Who knew that such a thing was so essential?! It's amazing how quickly you find yourself behind the times. Maybe I should ask Santa to bring me an Apple watch next Christmas! 

Later: well, against all his own predictions, Phil won yet another veteran's trophy. The ones from the Pontevedra tournament take the form of large pawns. If this continues, and if they were to decide to make some in the shale of other chess pieces, he could eventually have a whole oversized chess set!