Pre-bulletin/Press Release

9th Forbo-Krommenie Bridge Tournament Scheveningen
Steigenberger Kurhaus Hotel
February 23-25, 2001

Organized by The Scheveningen Visitors & Convention Bureau under the auspices of the Dutch Bridge Federation

World's number one

Another edition of the prestigious Forbo-Krommenie International Bridge Tournament will be held in about a month's time. Venue and date: The Steigenberger Kurhaus Hotel at Scheveningen, The Netherlands, February 23-25, 2001. Forbo-Krommenie company, world leader in products like Marmoleum® and Artoleum®, has been supporting the game of bridge on a major scale for almost a decade. Over the years, its International Bridge Tournament has acquired the reputation as the world's number one teams event.

The tournament formula comprises three events:

1. The 6th Forbo-Krommenie Nations Cup In this highly exclusive tournament, four of the strongest bridge nations do battle: Olympic champion Italy, Olympic runner-up Poland, North America and The Netherlands, last year's winner of the Nations Cup.

2. The 9th Forbo-Krommenie International Teams In this event 64 star-studded teams participate from all over the world. Entries have been confirmed by teams from the USA, Canada (last year's winner), Italy, Poland, France, China, South Africa, Japan, Belorussia, Portugal, Norway, the UK, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Bulgaria and Germany. The field will be complemented by a number of powerful domestic squads.

3. The Forbo-Krommenie Friendship Cup Traditionally, friends and business associates of the Forbo-Krommenie play a pairs event on Friday in a relaxed atmosphere.

Highlights of the tournament will be covered on the Internet (Bridgeplaza.com) and on Dutch Teletext. You may find more details concerning the tournament on the next pages, including some interesting hands played in previous editions.

Participants in the 6th Forbo-Krommenie Nations Cup:

Italy

Alfredo Versace-Lorenzo Lauria Norberto Bocchi-Giorgio Duboin

Poland

Krzysztof Jassem-Piotr Tuszynski Adam Zmudzinski-Cezary Balicki

North America

Fred Gitelman-Brad Moss Howard Weinstein-John Carruthers

The Netherlands

Piet Jansen-Jan Westerhof Jan Jansma-Louk Verhees

Previous winners of the Forbo-Krommenie Nations Cup:

1996: Italy Alfredo Versace-Lorenzo Lauria Andrea Buratti-Massimo Lanzarotti
1997: Italy Alfredo Versace-Lorenzo Lauria Ê Andrea Buratti-Massimo Lanzarotti
1998: France Paul Chemla-Philippe Cronier Ê Alain LŽvy-Christian Mari
1999: China Wang Weimin-Fu Zhong Ê Sun Shaolin-Li Xin
2000: The Netherlands Jansen-Westerhof Ê Muller-De Boer

Previous winners of the Forbo-Krommenie International Teams Tournament:

1993: T.V.M., The Netherlands RenŽ Coppens-Geert Jansen Harm Everts-Rieks Mulder
1994: USA Michael Polowan-Sam Lev Ê Brad Moss-Ravindra Murthy
1995: Denmark Niels Krojgaard-Jes Bank Ê Mads Krojgaard-Henrik Caspersen
1996: Team Haas, Germany Steve Haas-Dr. Michael Elinescu Ê Andrzej Holowski-Tomasz Gotard
1997: Italy Alfredo Versace-Lorenzo Lauria Ê Andrea Buratti-Massimo Lanzarotti
1998: Germany Dr. Michael Elinescu-Dr. Enslaw Wladow Ê Helmuth HŠusler-Splettstšsser
1999: Team Wijma, The Netherlands Schelte Wijma-Jaap Brulleman Ê Frans ten Brink-Hans de Vrind
2000: Canada Drew Canell-John Carruthers Ê Eric Kokish-George Mittelman

Internet (on line)
http://www.bridgeplaza.com/ Bulletin

The Daily Bulletins will appear:
Nr. 1 on Saturday Morning
Nr. 2 on Saturday Evening
Nr. 3 on Sunday Morning
Nr. 4 on Sunday Evening

Registration

Elly Ducheyne (foreign teams) Ê
+31 70 39 70 405 (phone + fax)
e.mswaan@freeler.nl

Communicatiebureau

ETI BV (domestic teams)
0180-631029 (phone) 0180-633524 (fax)
roel.van.veen@inter.nl.net

Press liaison

Jan van CleeffÊ
+31 70 36 05 902 (phone)
+31 70 36 40 841 (fax)
jvcleeff@xs4all.nl