Youth Day at the Santa Clara Valley Fall Sectional

On October 25, a total of 32 young bridge players ranging in age from 4 to 18 arrived at West Valley College in Saratoga, site of the San Jose sectional bridge tournament. Some of them played two sessions of bridge, 20 boards in the morning and 10 in the afternoon. Others played in only one or the other of the two sessions, and a few played in other events at the sectional but came to share in the pizza.

In the morning, four tables participated in a game limited to players with 0 to 5 masterpoints. The East-West winners were Arthur Zhou and his father, Tianshu Zhou. In first place North-South were Matthew and Jonathan Shi.

In the afternoon, four tables participated in the monthly SiVY youth duplicate event. Four other youngsters participated in a "play for fun" table. The overall winners of the duplicate were Rory Xiao and Arthur Zhou (who was obviously having a very good day). Runners-up were Allen Loomis and Cirdan Wang and Jack Aby and Aiden Ye.

Kevin Rosenberg (l) and partner Adam Kaplan on their way to winning the Open event.

In the break between sessions, players from both morning and afternoon sessions enjoyed pizza and socialized. A highlight for some was the chance to play a few hands with two accomplished local youth players: Kevin Rosenberg, a familiar face at SiVY events as both player and mentor and Silver Medalist at the 2014 World Youth Team Championships in Turkey, and Adam Kaplan, the ACBL 2014 King of Bridge, who has recently arrived in Silicon Valley to attend Stanford University. The ACBL Education Foundation designates one graduating high school senior and ACBL member as a King (and this year, a Queen as well) of Bridge in recognition of both "their playing record and their overall participation in the bridge community" (according to the October 2014 issue of the ACBL Bulletin). Adam has a history of teaching bridge to young people, and he is looking forward to participating as a teaching assistant in next month's Stanford Splash. He hopes to be actively involved in SiVY.

After lunch, Adam and Kevin had to return to finish the Open Pairs, which they won over many more experienced competitors. Kevin's influence was felt all day, however, since two of the participants in the 0-5 masterpoint event and one player in the youth duplicate were members of the fledgling bridge club at Monta Vista High School, which Kevin founded.

The bridge games at our parties are American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) sanctioned awarding masterpoints (MP) to high scorers. ACBL membership is not required for our games but is strongly suggested. You can join online or at the Bridge Center on the night of an event. Adult membership is $28 for the first year and junior membership only $15 per year. Both include a monthly print magazine and registration of masterpoints (start earning towards becoming a Life Master!).