We are in the small town of Veldhoven in The Netherlands, where it is decision day in the 2023 World Youth Bridge Championships. This is the final day of the round robin qualifying stage in all five events. At the end of play today, the top eight teams will advance to the knockout stage and the rest will go home.

These are the leaders in each of the categories as play starts today. There are four matches remaining in the Juniors and the Women, and three in the other categories:

Juniors: USA1, NETHERLANDS, ISRAEL, SWEDEN, POLAND;

U-26 Women: NORWAY, ENGLAND, DENMARK, FRANCE, ITALY;

Youngsters: POLAND, USA1, ISRAEL, CHINA, DENMARK;

Schools: USA1, HUNGARY, CHINA, ESTONIA, POLAND;

Universities: CHINA, ISRAEL, INDIA, POLAND, BELGIUM.

As usual, we start with a couple of problems. Firstly, with neither side vulnerable, you are West holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

Next, with both sides vulnerable, you are sitting in the North seat with:

What action, if any, do you take?

While you consider those, we start today’s action in the Universities event, with a meeting between BULGARIA and FRANCE, lying sixth and seventh respectively with three matches remaining. Just avoiding a big loss might be enough but, behind them, CHINESE TAIPEI, NETHERLANDS, SCOTLAND and CROATIA are tightly bunched, each looking to claim one of those final places in the Top 8. When the final deal of the match arrived at the tables, BULGARIA led a tightly-fought match 24-23.

Colin Deheeger (left) made his first international appearance in the Youngsters Pairs at the 2012 European Youth Championship. Two years later at the same event, he won a bronze medal in the pairs and made his debut in the French team. He was a regular member of the French Junior team between 2015 and 2019.

On this deal, Pierre Bedouet opened with a Gambling 3NT, showing a solid minor with little outside. Todor Pavlov’s double on the South cards then left Deheeger with the first of this week’s problems.

Partner clearly has clubs, so how high are you willing to go to shut the opponents out of their virtually certain spade fit? Deheeger decided that six was the appropriate number, and to say that worked like a dream would be an understatement. Could Pavlov possibly find the save in 6♠ after that auction? Of course not: he simply doubled, expecting to go plus, I’m sure.

There were 12 top tricks in either hearts or clubs, so that was E/W +1090.

For the Bulgarians, Dobromir Lazarov started with a Precision-style, natural 2♣ opening, which allowed Melic Dufrene to get his spades into the auction at a comfortable level. Zahari Ferov made a negative double and then began a battle to see which side would compete highest in their respective major. In the end, it was the Bulgarians who blinked first, Ferov not unreasonably choosing to defend once the French had bid five-over-five.

A diamond opening would have allowed the defenders to make two ruffs and two aces, but Ferov started with a top heart and switched to clubs at trick two. Declarer still had a diamond loser, so that was one down: E/W +100 and 14 IMPs to FRANCE, who won the match 37-23 to take a step closer to the knockout stage.

This defeat was followed by two more narrow defeats, against SCOTLAND and POLAND, leaving the Bulgarians perilously close to the bubble, but they just managed to squeeze in. A big victory in their final match would have seen NETHERLANDS claim the last place in the knockout rounds, except for SCOTLAND’s victory over BELGIUM in their final match. This is how the top of the final leader-board looked in the Universities event:

Let’s now take a look at the latter stages of the Youngsters event. FRANCE were comfortable in third place going into their final match, but their opponents, ENGLAND, were still in some danger of missing out if they lost and results elsewhere went against them. With just four boards to play, the match scores stood at 30-21 to FRANCE. A loss of that magnitude was one that the English could live with.

Let it never be said that Junior bridge is not exciting and, when you play that sort of game, accidents will sometimes happen…

I wasn’t sure whether to publish this deal. I would hate to get the French pair into trouble with the authorities at home in La Republic, where I understand that playing anything other than a 16-18 1NT opening is still perhaps a guillotinable offence.

Aurele Gallard’s 8-12 1NT opening is hardly ‘Standard French’, but it certainly made it difficult for the English pair to judge the hand. In truth, EW are likely to get too high on these cards even given a free run, but it’s obviously more fun this way.

Leo Rombaut’s club lead hastened declarer’s demise, and the French quickly collected two clubs and a trick in each major to nip the contract by a trick. E/W -50.

Andrew Cope (right) just missed out on a medal at his international debut, the English team finishing fourth in the Under-16 Teams at the 2017 European Championships. He has since represented his country regularly in both Under-21 and Under-26 events.

Of course, no red-blooded junior would ever dream of passing that North hand, non-vulnerable in third seat, and Cope’s psychic 15-17 1NT was certainly an imaginative effort. I can just imagine the bridge equivalent of Captain Mainwaring (for those old enough to remember “Dad’s Army”), or perhaps the Abbot of St Titus, watching the action and muttering, “Stupid boy, Pike”.

Unfortunately for Cope, his partner had just enough values to get him into trouble. Although, I have to say, that I think the star performer here was Romain Bloch, the French East, whose quiet pass of North’s 1NT opening afforded the English pair just enough space for them to hang themselves.

Needless to say, 4♦-X did not play well for declarer. He managed to make five tricks: E/W +1100 and 15 IMPs to FRANCE.

News was filtering in that the Dutch were winning big against JAPAN in their final match. Then ENGLAND rallied to pick up 2 IMPs, 1 IMP and 4 IMPs on the last three boards of their match. FRANCE win the match 45-28, meaning just 5.58 VPs for ENGLAND. Is it enough?

This was how the Top 10 teams in the Youngsters event finished:

Once again, it is the hometown Dutch team that just misses out on a place in the knockout stage. This time the margin was miniscule. Had the English lost one more IMP against the French, or the Dutch gained one more in their final match, the Orange Army would have moved up into that eighth place.

Next up is the Under-26 Women’s event. ITALY came into their final match comfortable in second place. Their opponents, NETHERLANDS, were not so secure, lying seventh with both DENMARK and CHINA breathing down their necks. A loss could easily see them overtaken by both and out of the competition. Overall, this was a very well-played match, with nine boards flat in the 12-board set. This deal might not have looked like much, but it illustrates a major benefit of getting into the auction early.

Eleonora Dalpozzo did not overcall on the West hand, but Sophia Capobianco got the Italians into the auction with a takeout double of spades after North’s 1NT response. Marlene Holm Christensen bid out her shape with 2♥, and now Dalpozzo competed in clubs. Everyone decided that they had bid their hand, so Dalpozzo was left to play peacefully.

Both sides could have done better in the play but, as so often happens in these cases, declarer eventually ended up with the nine tricks she rated to make. E/W +110.

Mette Lejeune (left) made her first international appearance in the pairs at the 2012 European Youth Championships. She joined the Dutch Under-26 Women’s team for their gold medal performance at the 2017 European Championships. She was also a member of the teams that collected bronze medals from the same event in both 2019 and 2022.

Malou Sprinkhuizen’s 2♣ overcall on the West hand is not my style, but I cannot argue with its effectiveness on this deal, as it left Zaira Davide with the second of this week’s problems. I think it is a close choice between a negative double and 2♠, with 2♦ a distant third and pass even further behind. I agree, there is no ideal bid, but passing merely delays the problem.

When the auction came back to Davide on the next round, she had a choice between passing again, giving preference to 2♠ and raising to 3♥. Having already passed once, passing was out of the question now, as Davide inevitably felt the need to catch up and show some values. 2♠ would probably have escaped undoubled and is likely one down, but Lejeune jumped all over the raise to 3♥, and quite rightly too.

Davide is not entirely to blame for this debacle. You might argue that Brusotti’s 2♥ bid should show 5-5 in the majors and that she should double 2♦ to show four hearts, and I have some sympathy with that argument. (Indeed, there is also a strong case for saying that this South hand is weak and should just pass over 2dx.) However, the main problem was caused by the original pass of 2♣. Taking early action and then getting out is so often much safer than trying to catch up later because you have values you have not shown. 3♥-X was three down: E/W +800 and 12 IMPs to NETHERLANDS.

The bad news for the Dutch was that this was the only deal in the match on which they gained IMPs. The good news was that they lost only 17-12. What was happening in the matches involving the chasing teams? DENMARK lost by 10 IMPs to ENGLAND, so they could not catch the Dutch, but their place in the knockout stage hung in the balance. CHINA could afford a small loss to bottom-placed USA2 and still overtake the Danes to qualify. No, CHINA lost 9-28 and thus both European teams hung on to their place in the knockout stage.

This was the Top 10 in the Under-26 Women’s event:

At last, the hometown fans have at least one team to cheer on as we move into the knockout rounds.

We finish with the Junior Teams. Our VuGraph match features GREECE, lying sixth but still potentially in danger if they suffer a sizeable loss. Their opponents are TURKEY, lying right on the bubble in ninth, and in need of a victory to have any chance. The other key match featured CHINA in seventh, against SINGAPORE, less than 8 VPs behind them in eleventh place. Let’s start with a deal from our featured match.

Remember, this is junior bridge, so the bidding sometimes wavers from what the old fogies amongst us might consider normal. I’ll leave you to assess who is to blame for the swing on this deal.

Panagiotis Skordas (right) made his international debut in the Greek Under-26 team at the 2022 European Youth Championships here in Veldhoven. Earlier this year, he was a member of a team of Greek Juniors who reached the Last 16 of the Open Teams and then finished fourth in the Open BAM Teams at the 2023 European Winter Games.

On this deal, Skordas opened the obvious 1♠ and Hakan Kuscu passed on the West cards. Just as opening bids seem to be becoming ever light, so too, it seems, are responses. Perhaps some would have raised to 2♠ on this North hand. Filippos Kritsalis chose to respond 1NT. Does no one ever pass an opening bid these days?

When Skordas rebid 2♥, I am guessing that although Kritsalis had an obvious preference for his partner’s first suit, he dare not bid again in case his partner bid on. Thus, it was that poor Skordas had to toil away in an ugly 4-2 fit with trumps not lying well. He managed to make five tricks: N/S -150.

Even if it doesn’t make, a spade partial will surely play better than hearts, so Advantage to the Turks, one would think.

Dimitros Kapiris (left) made his international debut in the Greek Under-16 team at the 2017 European Championships. Like Skordas, he was also a member of the Greek Junior team that performed so well at the Winter Games in Tignes earlier this year.

On this deal, Kapiris treated the West hand like a 2♥ overcall, which seemed to galvanize his opponents into seriously over-stretching. If North’s raise to 2♠ was described in terms of Olympic boxing weight divisions, it would be light flyweight, which is considerably below featherweight. Michail Soumplis joined in with a responsive double, which prompted Cem Barkin Gulez to jump to game. Kapiris had heard enough and wielded the axe.

Declarer managed seven tricks: N/S -500 and 8 IMPs to GREECE.  The 28-14 win ensured the Greek continuation in this tournament, but relegated the Turks to the sidelines.

In the all-Asian battle for the final qualification place, SINGAPORE needed to win by 13 IMPs in their head-to-head match to overtake CHINA. At the midway point of the match, SINGAPORE led 24-16. Board 7 was flat, but SINGAPORE gained 4 IMPs on Board 8 – now 28-16. They needed one more IMP over the final four deals. Board 9 and 10 were flat, but then CHINA gained 4 IMPs on Board 11 – 28-20. With N/S Vulnerable, the final deal looked like a dull 1NT board. Indeed, the Chinese South played in 1NT and went one down: N/S -100. In the other room, the Chinese East bought the contract in 1♠ in a 4-3 fit. Declarer made five tricks, two down: E/W -100 and 5 IMPs to SINGAPORE. The final score in the match, a 33-20 win for SINGAPORE. Exactly 13 IMPs!

This was how the top of the leader-board in the Junior Teams looked after five days and 23 matches:

The top three teams qualified with two matches to spare but, as a Venice Cup winner observed when I interviewed her a few weeks ago for the upcoming “World Class II”, “the advantage of the World Championships over the Europeans is that, once you reach the knockout stage, it’s a brand new tournament. It doesn’t matter what mistakes you made before.” Let’s see if those turn out to be prophetic words.

Finally, the top of the leader-board in the Schools event:

Congratulations to those responsible for organizing junior bridge in POLAND. They are the only country to get their team to the knockout stage in all five events. USA teams reached the knockout stages of four events, and four countries (China, Israel, England and France) have teams still alive in three categories.

We will be back soon with the best of the action from the quarter-finals.