Andrei Agnew at the 1978 SA Open

Andrei Agnew, then a 20 year old varsity student, won the 1978 Durban championship. Andrei was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and immigrated to South Africa in 1968. After completing his schooling at Queensburgh High School, Andrei entered the University of Natal as a Bachelor of Arts student. We played a lot of bridge and chess together whilst at varsity!

Andrei first played in the Championship section in 1976, finishing 9th with 2½ points. He improved substantially in 1977 by coming joint 2nd with 6 out of 9. He was unbeaten in the 1978 event (4 wins, 5 draws) with 6½ points, but was unsuccessful in defending his title in the 1979 championship, ending with just 3½ points.

Andrei returned to his native New Zealand at the beginning of 1980, and is now an attorney in Hawkes Bay. He is also well known as an expert on contract bridge, having written a book in 2004 called "The Symmetric Relay Contract Bridge Bidding System Made Easy".

Here is a selection of games by Andrei.