Springwood Bridge Club has been dealt the perfect hand in 2014, partnering its youngest and oldest members to bridge the generation gap.
The club has welcomed 14-year-old William Brazier into its ranks, teaming him up with 90-year-old Dean Park resident Jozsef Sumeghy in the weekly pairs competition.
They got on well from the start and their combination of youth and experience is showing promise.
Despite only playing bridge for 18 months, the Faulconbridge teenager has already earned five Australian Bridge Federation points and reached club master status - quite an achievement considering an average win earns a player only 0.4 master points.
"I've always played the simpler card games like gin rummy and Texas hold 'em poker, but my grandfather was always a good bridge player so I just decided to give it a go," William said.
"I went along to lessons with my mum and really enjoyed learning from instructor Lee Andrews.
"Bridge is extremely complicated - I think it took me about eight weekly lessons before everything just sort of clicked.
"I think the key is to concentrate on your strategy and build up a good understanding with your playing partner.
"I feel really lucky to have joined Springwood Bridge Club because their players are really patient if you are new to the game.
"They are also very supportive of young people trying bridge."
William said Mr Sumeghy was the perfect playing partner "because he's played bridge for so long and he's helped me create a lot of very difficult bridge systems".
"He has a good sense of humour too - every week he tells me something about his childhood days in Hungary, which I really enjoy.
"The next youngest player in the club would be about 10 years older than me and then it goes all the way up to 90, so in some ways it must be a strange experience for them to play against me, but it's been really good fun for all."
William hopes to play competitive bridge more than once per week, keep accruing master points and also play and practice at home with his family.
"I have a few siblings who like to play Five Hundred but they don't really play bridge at the moment. I'm hoping to swing them around."
Springwood Bridge Club meets at 1pm on Mondays at Lewin Lodge, Springwood.
For more information, phone Kath Lynch on 4751 9776.
