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Welcome  to coverage of the New Zealand Under 21 team which is about to take part in the World Youth Championships at Veldhoven in the Netherlands. The Teams event starts next Monday local time. Before that, there are two events for the Kiwis in the European Pairs Championships which has already got under way. We had two pairs in the Imp Pairs, all 5 players to compete in the Matchpoint Pairs and then a New Zealand team participating in the Under 21 section of the World Youth Teams Championships.

Firstly, a bidding problem for you and then we will meet the Kiwis.

 

1 may be short. You are in the Teams style environment.

       
     Alice                                                   Ryan

Alice Dravitzki

“Hey I'm Alice!
I'm 16 years old and am a year 12 student from Hawkes Bay. I did the lessons for bridge a very long time ago, but have probably only been playing consistently the last 2 and half years. Bridge for me definitely came from both sides of my family, and I had always been keen on cards and board games. Beyond bridge I play netball, am passionate about drama, and like to be around my friends.”

 

Ryan Song

Hi I’m Ryan, I’m 19 this year and I’ve been playing bridge for 11 years. I was born in Shanghai, China, but I have spent most of my life in Auckland. I am now a second-year student studying computer science and mathematics at Imperial College London. I started playing bridge at the age of 8. I registered myself for a bridge introduction session at Shanghai’s local community centre since I had a passion for card games when I was young. Later, as I’ve become more familiar with the game, my love for bridge developed as well. Bridge has been the connection pathway for me to many people of different occupations, age, culture, and other aspects. It’s interesting learning about all these different lives and how we’ve all sat down together on the same table just to play this great card game. This year I’ll be representing New Zealand to participate in the 2023 World Youth Championships. I look forward to playing with my teammates, and hopefully we’ll get some good results!

 
Leon

 

Leon Meier

I am Leon, I am 20 years old and have been playing bridge for 4 years. I got interested in bridge from my high school calculus teacher when he taught the class bridge. I love bridge because of the different challenges it poses on every hand and how I have to logically adapt to them, and how mentally stimulating it is. I am in my third year studying financial engineering at the University of Canterbury and I also play chess, a little poker, and football.

 

                     
   Zachary                                                Ramon

Zachary Yan

I am Zach from Howick, Auckland, and I am 21 years old. I started playing bridge in 2015 and got into it because of a bridge club at school. In addition to bridge, I have other hobbies such as watching movies, TV shows, and gaming.

 

Ramon Quennell

Hello I'm Ramon. I am 15 but turn 16 on August 1st. I live in Dunedin. I've been playing bridge for a little over a year. I got interested in bridge from my mother who used to play many years ago. Other than bridge in my spare time I play guitar, chess, football, cricket, and badminton.

 

The team chef de mission is former NZ Youth international and current Board Member, Sam Coutts.

 

Alice is reaching Veldhoven after the rest of the team and has not been taking part in the Imp Pairs. Ramon played in this event with Leon and Zach with Ryan. The event was played over 6 stanzas of 15 boards, three boards against each other pair.

Here, Ryan and Ramon took what was on offer rather than perhaps try for 650 or even a risky slam. After all, the 5-level is usually for one’s opponents. So, it proved:

 

 

At favourable vulnerability, West bid very quickly to the 5-level. In a match-point Pairs situation, it might be best to bid on to 5 but in a Teams (which IMP Pairs really is) situation, the “money” is often worth having even if it does not quite compensate for the game you might have made.

 

This time, “the money” was indeed good, with 3 spades, a heart and two club tricks adding up to +800, a 5 imp gain for Leon and Ramon on the board.

Making 5 this time was straightforward but three pairs chanced their arm in 6 and only one was successful. West’s jump to 5 made them favourites to be the shorter of the opponents in hearts but the slam involves taking that brave trump finesse, the right way.

 

In the 34 pair field which involved players of any age under 31, Leon and Ramon finished 12^th and Zach and Ryan 22^nd.  Over the next three days, Alice and Ramon will compete in the European Under 21 Youth Pairs, as well as Leon with an Australian partner while Zachary and Ryan will play in the Under 26 category as the age criteria in the European events are different from the World Youth Teams next week. We will keep you in touch.

 

Richard Solomon

 

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