As per my column of last week, this year, for the first time, the local Bridge Unit will be sending a team to the World Youth Teams Championship in Salsomaggiore, Italy, between August 3-13.

Spearheading this move is John Burville, president of The Bermuda Bridge Club and he has been strongly supported by Roman Smolski, who is coaching the youngsters and Mike Viotti, the Saltus teacher whose efforts really got the ball rolling in this area and who acts as coach/mentor to the students.

Ruskin Cave, Liam Peniston, Tyler Irby and Gianluca Cacace will represent Bermuda in the Under-21 division.

Over the next few weeks I will bring you some interviews with Mike and the team members and today I will start with Mike.

As mentioned last week, it seems that when Mike first joined Saltus he was, despite not being a bridge player, challenged by the head of school to start a bridge programme ... and the rest is history.

Mike himself got hooked on the game and his enthusiasm spread quickly so that there are now 32 students looking at bridge as a pastime. So, here is Mike in his own words:

Age? 31

Job: Teacher of physics and general science at Saltus Grammar School

When did your first play bridge? In 2013, when I first moved to Bermuda.

Who introduced you to it? John Burville had spoken to Saltus’s then head of school, Claire Charlemagne, and she asked if I would take on bridge as an extracurricular activity. It started there.

Are you good at math? I think so.

Do you have a good memory? I think so, but my wife would disagree!

Do you like other card games? I like poker and cribbage. I had never played a trump-taking game before bridge.

Do either of your parents play bridge? No

Who is the bridge player you most admire, if there is one? I like reading Eddie Kantar’s articles about bridge.

What interests you most about the game? I like that there are so many different facets to improve upon, and that you can never be perfect. I like the risk-versus-reward element of the game, and I like how the game rewards the ability to draw inferences from incomplete information.

How often do you play? I play once or twice per week at the Bermuda Bridge Club, once per week with students at Saltus during our bridge club meetings, and nearly every day on my phone/computer.

What skills do you think you most need for the game at a competitive level? I’ll speak about what the kids need to perform at a competitive level (not what I’d need to do to grow into a competitive player). I think that, like most activities, dedication is what sets some students apart from others. Students who are willing to dedicate themselves to learning how to get better at bridge are typically those who do best. Bridge is an immensely intricate game, and practice makes perfect. Sure, some students have a more honed mathematical ability, or have more experience playing cards, or have an easier time thinking logically, but plenty of kids find success at bridge from simply immersing themselves in the game, and that’s the message that we’re trying to spread to new players at Saltus. Once students are actively engaged and dying to know more about the game, then I push them towards thinking about inferences from actions not taken rather than simply from actions taken. Once students can analyse the road not taken, they are thinking about bridge at a deep level and I think that allows them to develop into better players.

Are you looking forward to Salsomaggiore? I can’t wait!

Great answers by Mike to the last few questions and he clearly understands this great game of ours.

There is no easy route to success and those that want to learn and put in the time will be among the winners. Having a “feel” for the game is nice, but in the end a lack of technique and structure will find you out.

Don’t, however, underestimate the value of “feel” or “table presence” especially at the top of the game.

This week’s hand took place in a recent major tournament and the bidding was brilliant as was the play at a couple of tables.

Dealer East. N/S Vul

S: K873

C: 93

D: AQ9

S: 9432

S: AQ105

C: AKQJ108

D: K3

S: 5

The Bidding

West

***

1S

4D

5H

East

1H

4C

4NT

6S

I am a bit surprised that East risked a one Heart opener with that hand instead of opening two Clubs, strong and forcing. Take away the AQ of Diamonds from West and he would have passed and 4 Hearts or 4 Spades would still be cold.

Anyway, back to the bidding — after the one Spade bid the 4 Clubs was a splinter showing Spade support and a singleton Club and is a slam try.

West now showed the Diamond Ace and East bid RKC Blackwood and settled for 6 Spades when West showed only two Key Cards, the trump King and one Ace.

North led the Club Ace and then the Club King ruffed in dummy. Declarer now played the Ace of Spades and noted the 9 from South — what now? Well, 5 of the 7 declarers played for 3-2 trumps (which is favoured by the odds) and two declarers, Geir Helgemo and Artur Malinowski, came to the Queen of Diamonds and played a low spade to the ten.

The full hand

North

S: J642

H: 62

D: 1062

C: AK76

West

S: K873

H: 93

D: AQ9

C: 9432

East

S: AQ105

H: AKQJ108

D: K3

C: 5

South

S: 9

H: 754

D: J8754

C: QJ108

Brilliant by Geir and Artur as their play worked. When Artur was asked the thinking behind his play, he said: “North played the second Club very quickly, which made me a bit wary.

“Also, I was on Vugraph on Bridge Base Online so I had to give those hundreds of kibitzers something to talk about.”

He certainly did!