English 2026 מרץ 270 גיליון 55 Recently a "new generation" has taken over Israeli bridge. Our open team due to represent Israel in the European Championship at Riga later this year consists of six players, all of them well under 30 years old, and there are some more young pairs knocking at the door. Then we have an even "newer" generation of teenagers, at the start of their bridge journey, and some of them have already shown good results. In the opening event of the 58th Israeli International Festival, I happened to be a victim of two of these talented kids. Dealer South, Vul All Q7 T87 T43 KT952 J2 953 KQ8 AJ5432 KQ9865 AJ2 J8 3 AKT864 9 7 AQ764 West North East South 1♠ 2♦ Pass 2♥ 3♣ 3♥ 4♣ 4♥ 4♠ 5♥ 5♠ Dbl All Pass I was sitting West in a one-session IMP pairs event, and up to this point the session has been going extremely well. My opponents were two young kids: Ofek Gal-Or (South) and Omri Korenblit (North), and they didn’t stop bidding till the five-level. Of course, they were right, because the deal was a pure double-fit. East/West held all the high cards in the red suits, while North/South dominated the black suits. South’s three clubs already showed a strong two-suiter, and after I supported hearts, North raised to four clubs. Then South rebid his spades at the four level. At that point I understood that I had very little defense against a spade contract, so I competed to five hearts, but North was there, correctly assessing the value of his spade queen and competing to five spades. For my partner this was enough. He held two aces after I made a vulnerable overcall at the two level, so he doubled for penalty. Disappointment was coming pretty soon. After losing to the two red aces, South could almost claim the rest (barring unusual distributions). The final score was +850 North/South, an average gain of 11.39 IMPs over the field. Had we made a better decision and sacrificed to six hearts, we would still score minus 500 – a substantial loss. At no less than nine tables East/West were allowed to bid and make a heart game against less talented opposition. Well-done, opponents! I guess we are going to hear more about this pair in a few years’ time. Talented Kids // Ram Soffer
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