1994 (1st) Owens Corning Tournament, Redwither Tower, Wrexham, Clwyd, Wales, 18-26 October 1994

1994 (1st) Owens Corning Wrexham		Fed	Elo	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Nigel R Davies	ENG	2510g	&;	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	7½
2	Lars Karlsson	SWE	2500g	½	&;	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	7
3	Michael Bezold	GER	2475m	½	½	&;	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	6
4	Keith C Arkell	ENG	2470m	0	½	½	&;	½	1	½	1	1	1	6
5	Patrik Lyrberg	SWE	2405m	0	0	½	½	&;	½	1	1	1	1	5½
6	Heikki M J Westerinen	FIN	2370g	½	0	½	0	½	&;	1	½	1	½	4½
7	Michael T Hennigan	ENG	2465m	0	½	0	½	0	0	&;	0	1	1	3
8	Francis Rayner	WLS	2285	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	&;	½	0	2
9	Russell J Dive	NZL	2315f	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	&;	1	2
10	Nasser M Abbasi	USA	2280	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	0	&;	1½

Average Elo: 2407 • Category 7 • GM norm = 7, IM norm = 5½
Chief Arbiter: Richard Furness

Report by Richard Furness [first published in BCM, December 1994, p636, and the 1996 BCF Yearbook]

The elevation of Wrexham's Nigel Davies to the peerage - i.e. the award of the Grandmaster title - was the motivation for this important new event on the British international chess calendar. With Nigel to provide contacts and the necessary technical advice, Mike Hughes and Brian Davies obtained not only sponsorship from Owens Corning, a US-owned fibreglass and insulation company, but also from Wrexham Maelor Borough Council. Part of the deal was the use of superb premises at Redwither Tower, giving the event a venue which would have graced a top-flight GM tournament.

The event was hailed as the first grandmaster all-play-all to be held in Wales, and was also significant in that it was the first event in Britain to use the new Digital Game Timers in what is popularly known as 'Fischer Mode'. Players began games with 100 minutes and the clock credited each player with 30 seconds after each of his moves. After move 40 a 50-minute bonus was added, and after 60, an additional, final bonus of 30 minutes.

There were no frantic time scrambles and no game was lost this way. When time was running out, a player only had to move to gain another 30 seconds. It is a FIDE requirement that when there is an add-on of 20 seconds or more, players must keep an up-to-date scoresheet at all times. Some players were naturally apprehensive about the clock at the start, but by the end, all were delighted with it.

Back to the tournament: it was a Category 7, with 7/9 as the GM norm and 5½/9 the IM norm. 22-year-old IM Michael Bezold, at whose father's hotel Bobby Fischer has often stayed, started well and was a serious contender for a norm. Perhaps he had advance knowledge of the 'Fischer' clock! By the end of round 5 Nigel Davies had taken a narrow lead from No. 2 seed Karlsson, and he maintained this advantage throughout the latter part of the tournament.

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File Updated

Date	Notes
23 September 2026	First upload. 45 games (with round numbers and dates, unlike other sources) plus crosstable and tournament report.