AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, Oct. 17, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Online World Chess announces the biggest online chess event ever. Over 100,000 players are expected to register to www.onlineworldchess.com and play each other through the Internet from February 2002. The 32 best players of the Internet Event will play the 32 best chess Grandmasters, face to face during a live event in The Netherlands from April 20 to May 5, 2002. The total prize fund exceeds US$1.4 million.
The Press Briefing at the Filmmuseum, Vondelpark 3, Amsterdam, starts at 10.30 a.m.
10.30 Welcome
10.45 Bessel Kok, Chairman: Introduction to Online World Chess
11.15 Floris Italianer, CEO: OnlineWorldChess.com: the game, the
rules, the prizes
11.45 Judit Polgar, Women's World Champion:
Official start of Online World Chess Event 2002
12.15 Questions and answers and interview possibility
12.30 End of Press Briefing
For those journalists who prefer to attend our conference call, we invite you to:
15.30 - 16.30 hours (CET) Conference Call Online World Chess.
It is estimated that 600 million people worldwide know how to play chess. Of these 600 million, approximately 7 million are registered chess players, covering 159 countries worldwide, making chess one of the most popular sports around the world. Being this widespread, chess players were among the first to discover the boundless possibilities of computers and the Internet. Today, more than 283 million people play chess with others from all over the globe via the Internet.
Next week: the newly established Online World Chess Foundation announces to bring this truly international community of chess players together in the biggest online chess event ever: Online World Chess Event 2002.
You will find the fax reply form at the following link. Please return this to the Online World Chess Press Office: +31-20-644 97 36.