CARD WHIZ CHALLENGES THE WORLD.(Local)

Byline: Craig Brandon Staff writer

When Michael Klein was a 17-year- old junior at Princeton, his teachers told him it was time to choose a college major.

"I was setting out my pseudopods in all directions," said Klein. "What I needed was to take some time off to think."

Instead of a major, he chose contract bridge as a temporary avocation, putting his academic career on hold and tossing his fate to the cards. It was a wise decision.

This summer, just two years later, Klein, 20, of Edgewood Avenue in Albany, will be one of six players to represent North America at the World Junior Bridge Championships in Nottingham, England.

The Americans are the underdogs in the …