chess

James Howell romped home for an excellent first place in the Owens- Corning International in Wrexham, winning his last three games to finish a point ahead of Isztvan Csom and Malcolm Pein. Full scores: Howell 61/2; Csom and Pein 51/2; Davies 5; Bronstein, McDonald and Engqvist 41/2; Martinovsky 4; Hartman 31/2; Neffe 11/2.

Starting with only two points from his first four games, Howell suddenly came to life in the second half of the tournament - in complete contrast to the early leader, Christa Hartman, who was in the lead with 31/2 out of 5, but did not add to that score. His last-round game was typical of his second-half misery. 9...b5 loosened his game - 9...Qc7 is more solid - and 17...Bd4 (Be7 was the last chance) already allowed a winning combination.

Davies-Hartman: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e3 Nf6 4 Bxc4 e6 5 Nf3 c5 6 Qe2 a6 7 dxc5 Bxc5 8 0-0 Nc6 9 e4 b5 10 Bb3 Qc7 11 e5 Ng4 12 Bf4 f6 13 Nbd2 Ngxe5 14 Rac1 Qb6 15 Bxe5 fxe5 16 Ng5 0-0 17 Nde4 Bd4 18 Qh5 h6 19 Qg6 hxg5 20 Bxe6+ Bxe6 21 Qxe6+ Kh8 22 Rxc6 Qd8 23 Qh3+ Kg8 24 Qb3+ Kh8 25 Qh3+ Kg8 26 Qe6+ Kh8 27 Rd6 Qc8 28 Rd7 Rd8 29 Qh3+ Kg8 30 Nf6+ resigns.