Parent - Child Duplicate

June 19, 2016

Sixteen tables of Parent-Child and Grandparent-Child pairs came out for the special Fathers Day game co-sponsored by Unit 503 and SiVY Bridge, breaking previous attendance records. Nine tables competed in Section A, for more experienced players. Seven tables participated in Section B, where at least one member of each partnership was a newer player.

The "parents" in the 32 pairs were represented by 18 fathers, 10 mothers, 3 grandfathers, and 1 grandmother. The "children" spanned a wide range of ages and levels, starting with 7 year-old Kayden Ge, playing in his first duplicate tournament, going up to three non-Juniors (defined as age 25 and Under). In between there were many pre-teens and teens, as well as a few young adults who still qualify as juniors. Young adults, Isha Thapa and Kevin Rosenberg are both Life Masters, while Julian Binder has played a lot at home, yet learned to use bidding boxes for the first time, to play in this event with his Dad, Steve.

This was the first time Mackenzie and Preston Kauk played in a SiVY Parent-Child game. Preston directs games at the San Jose Bridge Center, and Mackenzie helps him out occasionally by filling in. Since Mackenzie doesn't play often, the pair had signed up for Section B, yet agreed to switch to Section A when the tables were uneven. Mackenzie held her own admirably, as father-daughter demonstrated they fit right in to Section A, finishing 4th out of the 9 N-S pairs

Sixteen-year old Cornelius Duffie is a SiVY regular. He, his sister Claire, three grandparents, and his dad, have all participated in previous Parent-Child games. When it happened that neither dad nor grandparents were available for this game, Cornelius persuaded his mom to give duplicate a try. Elizabeth Schwerer had played just a little bridge at home before this, and came in first place E-W in Section B.

Xin Ge rearranged a business trip in order to play with his son Brandon on Fathers Day. His wife, Min Bai, wasn't sure that their younger son Kayden was ready to stay focused for a whole game, but they decided to give it a try, and was pleased with the outcome. Xin commented that he'd always hoped his children would play bridge, and feels lucky to be part of a community where his whole family is now playing.

For quite a few of the pairs in section B, this was the first tournament for both parent and child. Mom and Dad, Cadir and Susan Lee, have taught their children to play with bidding boxes at home, so they were used to the mechanics, but had never played in a tournament before. Cadir thought it was great that they had this opportunity to introduce their kids to a tournament, alongside others their age.

Father-son pair, Ralph Griffin and William Griffin, both adults, were not at all bothered by the age differential, and had a great time playing in their first ever duplicate game. Ralph and Williams's opponents in the picture are Ryan Tock and mom Kalee holding Willow Tock. Ryan and Willow took turns playing with mom during the event.

Special thanks to tournament director Will Watson for preparing lunch, and providing another fantastic tournament experience for the players.

SiVY Parent-Child games are held every 2-3 months. Normally at these games, the child in the partnership must be age 25 and Under. This special Fathers Day game was an exception. If you'd like to be added to the list to receive notifications about these events, please email debbie@siliconvalleyyouthbridge.org