Table of Contents Page Schools Championship Gets Under Way 1 Round 7 Juniors - Czech Rep. vs Belgium 2 The All-Time Bridge Greats (4) 3 Hand Stories 4 More Coaching Headaches 5 Round 8 Juniors - England vs Scotland 6 Round 9 Juniors - Greece vs Scotland 7

Panos Gerontopoulos officially opened the European Schools team Championship yesterday evening in a short informal ceremony at the Riviera Centre. Panos stressed that the Schools Championship would be played, from a technical point of view, under exactly the same conditions as the European Open or any other Team Championship.

Present was Giannarigo Rona, the President of the European Bridge League. We should all be grateful to Giannarigo for bringing some Italian sunshine with him to Torquay.

All the teams were presented, with the Scots getting the loudest applause for the traditional kilts worn by the men in the team.

We have seen how many Junior players go on to represent their countries at Open or Ladies level, likewise, many of those taking part here in the Schools tournament will play in future Junior events. And from there, who knows which will go on to become Open or Ladies European or even World Champions? Good luck to all.

Italy went top of the Junior Championship with a 21-9 victory over Greece. France drop to second after drawing 13.5-13.5 with Estonia on vugraph (1.5 VPs each in slow play fines). Croatia and Poland both had wins to go joint third. Bottom team, Scotland boosted their confidence with a convincing 24-6 win against Germany.