4TH FORBO INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE TOURNAMENT "experts in floor coverings" Organized by The Hague Visitors & Convention Bureau under the auspices of the Dutch Bridge Federation Scheveningen, Steinberger Kurhaus Hotel, February 9-11, 1996 BULLETIN #1 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to the 4th Forbo-Krommenie International Bridge Tournament! Due to a new and exiting formula, the 1996 Forbo Bridge Tournament is even more special than its previous editions. So what's up this year? Of course the strong-as-ever International Teams Tournament. Once again, 64 of the strongest teams from The Netherlands and many other countries will fight there way through the round robin on Saturday in order to achieve a good starting position in the finals on Sunday. Not such an easy task for any player since you certainly will notice that quite a few world, Olympic and other champions are playing here. Inside this Bulletin you find the line up for the round robin on Saturday. New this year is the Forbo-Krommenie Friendship Cup, a Friday afternoon pairs tournament between business friends, politicians and the parliamentary press. You will find a report on this event inside. Last but not least we are proud to present a new and prestigious competition: the Forbo-Krommenie Nations Cup. In this teams event exclusively, four of the strongest bridge countries are participating: France, the reigning Olympic Champion under the captaincy of the President of the World Bridge Federation Mr. Jose Damiani, Italy, the reigning European Champion, The Netherlands,winner of the Bermuda Bowl 1993 and a powerful American-Polish team. ******************************************************************** Results Friendship Cup 1 B. Korthals - F. de Grave 710 62.61 2 Schipperheijn-Kleinherenbrink 707 62.35 3 Roubos - Den Boer 706 62.26 4 P.J. Sisselaar - Gouriwich 691 60.93 5 F. Huigen - Dijkhuizen 690 60.85 6 L. Burgering - T. Bakkers 688 60.67 ******************************************************************** Politicians B. Korthals - F. de Grave 710 62.61% Hofstra - Klein Molenkamp 657 57.94% E. ter Veld - F. van Gool 601 53.00% H. Vonhoff - mevr. Vonhoff 571 50.35% M. Janmaat-Abee - P. vd Sanden 526 46.38% J. Nijpels - Hooyboer 469 41.36% T. Pitstra - Nieuwhof 425 37.48% E. van der Laan - E. van Thijn 372 32.80% 4331 ******************************************************************** Parliamentary Press Schipperheijn-Kleinherenbrink 707 62.35% L. Burgering - T. Bakkers 688 60.67% T. Dekkers - M. van den Broek 680 59.96% W. van Caspel - I. van Caspel 624 55.03% A. IJdens - v. Bennekum 594 52.38% A. Bouwmans - J. Harren 529 46.65% J.J. Lindner - M. Aarden 460 40.56% Heymans - de Vries 459 40.48% 4741 Parliamentary Press won by 4741 - 4331 MP ******************************************************************** DAMIANI MEETS "THE DUTCH TWO" The participants in the Friendship Cup, played on Friday afternoon, could be divided into two categories: important people, and politicians. Of course that is not meant to be an underestimate of the importance of being a politician. Early in the tournament a truly VIP table was scheduled: Pim Verzijl, Managing Director of Forbo-Krommenie, played with Jose Damiani, President of the World Bridge Federation, and they faced Rob Westermann, Managing Director of West Consulting, and Feijo Durksz, Treasurer-elect of the European Bridge League and Vice-President of the Dutch Bridge Federation. On the first board Damiani met the typical two opening bids, known as "Muiderberg" or (international) as "Dutch Two". In Holland the majority of bridge players use these openings: 2D is Multi, and 2H and 2S show a five card suit with a four card or longer in a minor suit. Brd 16 W/EW S K 7 2 H A Q 4 2 D 9 4 C A Q 4 2 S A S J T 6 5 4 3 H K T 8 6 5 H J 7 D Q T 7 5 3 D K 2 C T 6 C J 8 7 S Q 9 8 H 9 3 D A J 8 3 C K 9 5 3 West North East South Durksz Verzijl Westermann Damiani 2H Dbl pass 3H pass 3NT pass pass pass Damiani had a little problem after the double, but he solved it by cuebidding 3H. Verzijl had an obvious 3NT bid. Thanks to the Dutch Two opening he now received a heart lead from Westermann, whereas most of the North-players got a spade lead after the simple sequence 1NT -3NT. A spade lead gives declarer immediately two spade tricks and thus an easy route to nine tricks. After a heart lead Pim Verzijl had to make two spade tricks without help from EW, which can be done by leading spades from South, playing West (with nine cards known in other suits) for the shorter spade holding including the ace. But Verzijl guessed wrong and ended up one down. A victory for the "Dutch Two". ********************************************************************* De Grave - Korthals: Subscription to Friendship Cup victory Liberal politicians Bengt Korthals and Frank de Grave grabbed their third Friendship Cup victory in a row. Previous two years they only won the Politicians section, but this year their score proved to be enough for the overall victory as well. An impressive achievement, especially by Bengt Korthals, who plays only one tournament a year: the Forbo Friendship Cup. These successes will surely inspire him to make some more time in his schedule for playing bridge. On the next board, Korthals forgot to open the South hand, but he recovered well: Brd 10 S Q J 9 7 5 2 E/All H A K 9 3 D Q 7 C 2 S A T 6 3 S K 8 4 H Q T H 8 6 D 6 5 3 D J T 9 4 2 C A Q 7 6 C J 8 5 S - H J 7 5 4 2 D A K 8 C K T 9 4 3 West North East South De Grave Korthals pass pass 1C 2S pass 3H pass 4H pass pass pass The 2S overcall was intermediate, and Korthals advanced with an imaginative 3H bid. De Grave had an easy raise to 4H. After the CA lead, Korthals made twelve tricks by ruffing two clubs in dummy. This score was a near top for the liberals. ******************************************************************* The dark continent of defense, part 1 Under this title we bother the readers of the bulletin every year with some interesting defensive problems. Jose Damiani was tested in the defense of the following 3NT, but not all the way: Brd 15 S/NS ? ? S A Q J 9 5 H A K 9 6 ? ? D 6 2 C T 9 S K T 6 H J T 8 3 D Q 8 7 3 C A 8 Your left hand opponent opens 1S, and after they bid 2C, 2H - 3C, 3S -3NT You lead the fourth best diamond against 3NT, and your partner takes DA and returns the jack for declarer's king. The next card is S8, and you have to make your first decision. You decide not to take any risks (declarer might run the S8!) and you cover with S10 (partner plays S3). Declarer now plays C10 from dummy, partner C2, CJ in hand and you play the ...? Jose Damiani was not tested because declarer played a small club from his hand instead of CJ, so Jose could afford to duck CA. But in the given situation you must take the CA to prevent declarer from scoring nine tricks by repeating the spade finesse (five spades, two hearts, a diamond and a club). After CA and a diamond continuation, partner rewards you by producing a fifth diamond, the setting trick. S/NS S 7 4 3 H Q 5 D A J T 9 5 C 6 5 2 S A Q J 9 5 S 8 2 H A K 9 6 H 7 4 2 D 6 2 D K 4 C T 9 C K Q J 7 4 3 S K T 6 H J T 8 3 D Q 8 7 3 C A 8 ******************************************************************** FRANCE VS. THE NETHERLANDS In the first round robin of the Nations Cup France met The Netherlands. Interesting hands came along. For instance: Brd 3 S/EW S T 7 6 5 2 H A Q 9 6 3 D T C 7 6 S Q 3 S K 9 4 H T 7 5 2 H K D Q J 8 7 5 D K 6 4 2 C 8 4 C K J T 9 5 S A J 8 H J 8 4 D A 9 3 C A Q 3 2 The bidding started identically in both rooms, though the ending was quite different: Closed Room West North East South Meijer Westra Stoppa Leufkens 1NT pass 2C Dbl pass pass 2H pass pass pass Ten tricks easily made. Viewgraph West North East South De Boer Chemla Muller Perron 1NT pass 2C Dbl pass pass 2S pass 3S pass 4S pass pass pass The French rightfully reached the rather aggressive game, though in spades. Muller led the HK where after Chemla had an easy route to eleven tricks: the 'cigar' just played SA and another spade. France won 6 imps. ------------------------------------------------- Two boards later the Dutch struck back: Brd 6 E/EW S A T 2 H J T 6 3 D T 6 C T 8 4 3 S K Q 3 S 7 4 H A 9 8 4 H K Q 7 2 D K 4 3 2 D A 8 5 C 7 6 C A K 5 2 S J 9 8 6 5 H 5 D Q J 9 7 C Q J 9 In the closed room Leufkens-Westra somehow managed to defeat 4H by one trick. On Viewgraph Bauke Muller showed his skills in the same contract: West North East South De Boer Chemla Muller Perron 1NT pass 2C pass 2H pass 4H pass pass pass As in the closed room South kicked off with the DQ. Muller took the ace and immediately played a spade for king and ace. Next came the D10 for the king. Muller went on with SQ, spade ruffed in hand, CA-K and a club ruffed in dummy. Here after declarer still made three top hearts and was able to ruff the fourth club in dummy. So simply by not drawing trumps Muller ended up with as many as eleven tricks for a 13 imps gain. ----------------------------------------------------------- On the last board of the set it was again Bauke Muller who displayed the correct play: Brd 12 W/NS S A 6 5 H K T 5 D K Q 6 C J T 3 2 S - S K Q J 9 7 4 H Q 7 4 3 H A 9 8 6 D A T 8 2 D 7 4 C Q 9 8 7 4 C A S T 8 3 2 H J 2 D J 9 5 3 C K 6 5 Muller succeeded to play the heart suit for one loser only. How? As East he first played a small heart from hand and let it run to North' ten. Later he asked for the HQ, which was covered by the king and the ace meantime pinning the jack. Alas, for Bauke the contract was not 4H but 1S only. This shaky game was 'missed' in the other room as well of course. When on another board France went off in an impossible slam, where the Dutch carefully stayed in game, the match turned out to be a clear victory for The Netherlands. The 16 imps margin meant 19-11 in vps. ************************************************************ Netherlands vs Intercontinental The match between Holland and the American-Polish combination was decided on the first board: Brd 13 N/All S 8 5 H A J 9 8 3 D A 9 8 7 6 C A S T 2 S Q J 9 4 H K 5 4 H 7 D T 5 D K Q 3 2 C Q J T 8 5 2 C 9 7 6 3 S A K 7 6 3 H Q T 6 2 D J 4 C K 4 West North East South Westra Leufkens 1H pass 2NT pass 3H pass 3S pass 4C pass 4H pass pass pass West North East South De Boer Romanski Muller Gawrys 1H pass 2NT pass 3D pass 3S pass 4C pass 4H pass 5C pass 6H pass pass pass The details on Leufkens' 2NT bid and Westra's subsequent 3H were not available, but it seemed that Westra refrained from further slam investigations after he hears the lack of a diamond control in the South hand. That seemed a good decision, because the slam needs the heart finesse to be right, but also a not too unfavourable break of the diamonds and trumps. Romanski - Gawrys reached the slam when Romanski found, after a long thought, the key bid of 5C. But now the question remained whether twelve tricks were available. Bauke Muller led SQ for the ace in dummy. Romanski took the heart finesse by leading low to the nine, crossed in spades and led the H10. De Boer wanted to keep HK to be able to overruff dummy, so he played low. Romanski now ruffed a spade, on which De Boer threw a diamond. That was not the best defense, because it clarified the diamond position in the second round the suit was played. Romanski drew the last trump and CA, and had an interesting endplay: S - H J D A 9 8 7 6 C - S - S J H - H - D T D K Q 3 2 C Q J T 8 5 C 9 S 7 6 H Q D J 4 C K He played DA and another diamond. There were no winning options for the defense: a club or spade switch would give declarer an extra entry to the table to set up the spade suit. So a diamond was returned, but after the early diamond discard the position was 100% clear for declarer: the remaining diamonds are divided 3-2, in which case a simple ruff in dummy is enough, or they are divided 4-1, in which case the opponent with the long diamonds is endplayed. And that was exactly what happened at the table. Should De Boer have kept his diamond? Then declarer would have had a choice between the ruffing finesse or playing for a 3-3 break in the end position. This promising first board was not followed by more interesting hands. Only small swings followed, mostly because of some extra over- or undertricks. Gawrys earned 4 imps when he held (at favourable vulnerability) S T 4 3 H K T 9 8 7 6 D J 9 2 C 6 and the opponents began 1NT (left) - 2C (right). Not everybody would have thought of bidding on this hand, but Gawrys did. He jumped in with 2H, and was doubled immediately. Piotr escaped with 3 down when partner had an ace and he encountered a lucky trump break: HAJ bare with right hand opponent. Muller - De Boer struck back by bidding 3 NT on S J 9 5 3 S K 8 H A Q T 5 H 2 D T 7 D K Q 9 8 C A K 2 C Q 8 7 5 4 3 where Lev - Polowan stopped in 3C. But after a too optimistic game contract by the Dutch, the match was decided: 20-10 for the Intercontinental team. ----------------------------- In the audience a discussion arose on what to open on Bauke Muller's hand on board 21 (they vulnerable): S J T H A K Q 9 5 3 2 D T 8 C T 3 I don't think any reader will guess what was opened on almost the same hand in the Dutch top level competition a few years ago. (In)famous psycher Lorenzo Moenir-Alam opened a natural 2NT on it! And furthermore, he just passed when he got doubled! He found a useful dummy: the ace in the suit led, and one tiny little heart Enough for eight tricks. Strangely enough, 2NT was not Bauke's choice; he opened 4H and played there for a wash. *************************************************************** Meet the Staff Organizing a major bridge event as the Forbo is an enjoyable but difficult task. Primarily one needs a sponsor and secondary, a group of skillful people to run the event. In The Netherlands we are fortunate to have high class tournament directors with managerial qualities. Here follows an introduction to our staff: Ruud Ruyg (54) Married with two children. An employee of the Philips company. Being a tournament manager Ruud is the boss. He has lots of international experience: the 1980 Olympiad at Valkenburg, Main Office Supervisor at the Olympiads of 1988 and 1992, as well as in Geneva (WC 1990) and Youth EC (1994). As a tournament manager he has shown his ability at the 10th Cap Volmac, the Pepsi Cola Festival and at the three former Forbo Tournaments. Since 1987 he is the General Competition Manager of the Dutch Bridge Federation and a recognized International Tournament Director. Evert Angad-Gaur (54) Married with two children. Working as a civil engineer at the University of Delft. Three weeks ago in Milan, he was appointed as International Tournament Director. Besides bridge Evert likes tennis and soccer. Rob Bosman (43) Married with two children. Account manager with EDS Netherlands. International Tournament Director. Since 1987 the only non-French TD at the most famous European Festival: Antibes-Juan-les-Pins. From 1991 till 1993 TD at the Cina del Duca (Paris). Chairman of the Laws Committee of the Dutch Bridge Federation. Marc van Bijsterveldt (36) An employee of the Dutch Bridge Federation. International Tournament Director. Director at several International Tournaments such as the European and World Youth Championships at Papendal and Bali, the former Forbo Teams Tournaments and the Pro-Am tournament of the Cap Volmac Invitational 1996. Eric van Dijk (34) Married to Pascale van Duyse (see below). Civil engineer. Working in the Dutch Ministry of Defense. As an International Tournament Director he directed former Forbo Tournaments and the 1st Marina Calcutta last year at Scheveningen, which he will do again in April. Pascale van Duyse (30) MBA. Director of the Forbo-Krommenie Friendship Cup and Assistant- Director of the Forbo-Krommenie Nations Cup. Alex de Hes and Jaap de Leest National Tournament Directors. Here involved with scoring and rankings. The computer is their best friend. Frans Lejeune (36) Living and working in Utrecht as an employee of the Dutch Bridge Federation. Former teacher of science, International Tournament Director since 1993. Director in several large national bridge tournaments. Niki Pfeiffer (36) MBA. Working in the Information Department of the Ministry of Justice. Has played bridge for 27 years and has been a referee for 17 years. He is a National Tournament Director, but prefers playing bridge. Adri de Rooij (62) Married with two daughters and a son. Civil Engineer. National Tournament Director since 1990. Directed the Hoechst and Forbo Tournaments. Hans van Staveren (35) Civil engineer, specialised in computer science. Recognised International Tournament Director, but perhaps even more known for his Bridge Home Page on Internet. Henk van Tent (42) Former teacher and taxi driver. Sales manager with Industrial Plastics Europe. Recently appointed International Tournament Director in Milan. Directed many national and international topflight matches. ************************************************************* Group A 1. Krojgaard (Krojgaard, Bank, Krojgaard, Caspersen) 2. Stomphorst (Stomphorst, Kranenborg, Laan, Rouwendal) 3. Hungary (Vikor, Lakatos, Winkler, Gal) 4. Dutch Ladies Red (van Glabbeek, Hofland, Witteveen, Visser) 5. van Valen (van Ewijck, van Valen, Luitwieler, Jackson) 6. Faase (Faase, de Vrij, Sonneveld, Bisht, Hooites) 7. Gullberg (Gullberg, Gustavsson, Gothe, Anderssen) 8. Drukkerij Weinar IV (IJsebrands, Meulenbeld, Borst, Metselaar, Alladin, Hoenstok, Pieters) Group B 1. Wanufel (Wanufel, Backes, Yans, Leboulanger) 2. Bridgesoft (Janssens, Boegem, Tammens, Niemeyer) 3. Daehr (Daehr, Hotsenheit, Schomann, Landwehr) 4. Dutch Ladies White (Gielkens, van Zwol, Doedens, Wijma) 5. Aukje (Trouwborst, Alberts, Schuil, Wesseling) 6. Vis (Vis, Vis, van der Kaay, Benthuizen) 7. Haas (Haas, Elinescue, ?, ?) 8. Paape (Paape, Wilmer, van Dortmond, vd Berk) Group C 1. Sundelin (Sundelin, Sylvan, Flodqvist, Ryman) 2. Modalfa I (Maas, Borm, Vriend, Gosschalk) 3. Journalists (Novrup, Brok, Cadi Tazi, Miegevielle) 4. Dutch Ladies Blue (Pasman, Simons, Debets, Speelman) 5. Heemskerk (Heemskerk, Heinsman, Verhees, Franken) 6. Lavazza (Lavazza, Santia, Bocchi, Dubois, Zmudzinski, Balicki) 7. Gelders (Gelders, Gunther, Bolak, Bolak) 8. Uijting (Uijting, de Rijk, van Montfoort, Eliens) Group D 1. Ghestem (Ghestem, Martens, Szymanowski, Zaramaba) 2. Modalfa II (Kirchhoff, Englander, Pol, Abram) 3. Danish Junior Team (Lund Madsen, Lund Madsen, Brondum, Ron) 4. Netherlands Juniors B (Wijma, Brulleman, Hoogweg, Jacobs) 5. Enfants Terribles (Winkel, Germann, Willemsens, Felten) 6. Drukkerij Weimar V (Scherders, van Wel, ter Laare, Bakkeren) 7. van Ammers (Mul, van Ammers, van Ammers, Lof) 8. DBC (Schipper, van Luijk, Lagas, Kriens) Group E 1. National Team Sweden (Swanstrom, Githe, Flodqvist, Ryman) 2. van Lanschot Bankiers (CRASH) (Verhees, Hoogenkamp, Nab, Bertens) 3. Horton (Horton, Winter, Brock, Brock) 4. Netherlands Juniors A (Ramondt, MArkovic, de Wijs, van Prooijen) 5. Versluis (Versluis, Vis, Zandvoort, Lotte) 6. Groootens (Grootens, Jansen, Sillem, Donkersloot) 7. de Wilde (de Wilde, van Stratem, Lagas, van Luik) 8. Menro (Veger, Meys, Schaper, van Dord) Group F Group F 1. Steen Moller (Moller, Werge, Blakset, Christiansen) 2. v.d. Neut (v.d. Neut, Paulisse, Jansen, Westerhof) 3. Romania (Costa-Foru, Fulga, Marceletiu, Dorroiu) 4. Britain (Woodruff, Shaw, Bahkshi, Pollack) 5. Worm (Worm, Begas, de Ruiter, Wanner) 6. Buitenhof II (Meijer, v.d. Hoek, Kuip, ?) 7. Norris (Norris, Skaanning-Norris, Werdelin, Dahl) 8. Von Seida (von Seida, Chin, Pattenier, Verhaege) Group G 1. Danish International Team (Schaltz, Schaltz, Blakset, Bruun) 2. Jansma (Jansma, v.d. Vlugt, Fischer, Weigkreicht) 3. England (Butland, Reardon, Davies, Smith) 4. Novo Nordisk (Schaffer, Andersen, Adamsen, Nicolaisen) 5. Westvleteren (Heerschop, v.d. Kleij, v.d. Goot, Schuurmans) 6. van den Bergh (van den Bergh, Andersson, Kemper, Wunderli) 7. TVM (Everts, Mulder, Coppens, Jansen) 8. Bylorussia (Feranchuk, Chadrio, Skoromnik, Gradovsky, Medoushevsky) Group H 1. Baldursson (Baldursson, Armandsson, Thorvaldsson, Jorgensen) 2. Brigewinkel ALERT (Tuwannakotta, Nurmohamed, v.d. Haar, Meershoek) 3. Kreijns (Kreijns, Donkersloot, ?, ?) 4. Ron (Ron, Petersen, Grove, Gamrath) 5. Infotech (v. Dinteren, Janssen, Henstra, Laurant) 6. Kamerbeek (Kamerbeek, Bergsma, Mulder v.d. Gaast) 7. Both (Both, Bazendvogt, v. Santen, Somers) 8. Pinot (Pinot, Richter, Dahl, Aatorp) ------------------------------------------------------- Nations Cup France I (Damiani, Chemla, Perron, Stoppa, Meyer) Intercontinental (Polowan, Lev, Gawrys, Romanski) Italy (Buratti, Lanzarotti, Lauria, Versace) Netherlands (de Boer, Muller, Westra, Leufkens)