2018 Bay Area High School Bridge Championship Results

Palo Alto High School Wins Their Third Championship in Four Years
Brent Xio and Calix Tang Take 1st in the Pairs

Team Event

On April 29, 2018 at the Burlingame Bridge Center, high school students from six schools gathered to play in the team event of the fourth Bay Area High School Bridge Championship.

Nine teams played in a round robin of eight rounds of three boards each to determine which teams would advance to the semi-finals. At the end of the morning session, Palo Alto High School came out on top in the round robin, having scored 121 imps over the 24 boards. Gunn High School finished second, scoring 86 imps. Lynbrook High School followed close behind with 79 imps, and Monta Vista High School place fourth with 53 imps, taking the last spot in the semi-finals.

After lunch, the advancing teams faced off in a twelve board semi-final match while most players who did not advance competed in the championship pairs game. After placing first in the round robin, Palo Alto had their pick between Monta Vista and Lynbrook for whom to play in the semi-final. The Palo Alto team decided to take on Monta Vista, the team they played against in the finals three years ago. Palo Alto won the match 49-25, earning their spot in the final.

Meanwhile, Lynbrook and Gunn faced off in the other semi-final match. The twelve board match was incredibly close. After comparing scores with their teammates, both teams believed they had won the match by one! Pandemonium ensued, and the teams frenziedly cross-checked their scores until they found the board with the score difference. One pair thought a contract had gone down one while the other remembered the contract going down two, resulting in a two imp score discrepancy that was enough to swing the match. After painstakingly going through the hand trick by trick with Will Watson, the director, the players determined that the contract had, in fact, gone down two, giving Lynbrook the narrow win.

Palo Alto vied against Lynbrook for the championship while Gunn and Monta Vista competed for third place in another twelve board match. Monta Vista achieved a narrow win by only four imps, earning third place. Palo Alto prevailed against Lynbrook, winning their third consecutive high school championship 43-17.

Playing for Palo Alto were Cornelius Duffie, Stella Wan, Jonathon Youngquist, and Sarah Youngquist. Jonathon was a new addition to the team while the other three, all graduating seniors, had won in previous years.

Lynbrook, the 2nd place finishers, participated in the high school championship for the first time this year with a team comprised of Michael Hu, Alex Zheng, David Zheng, and Michael Zheng.

Monta Vista (Sarah Cai, Aman Desai, Sophie Lian, and Jasmine Wang) and Gunn (Kevin Huang, Lucas Huang, Johnny Shi, and Michael Xu), who finished third and fourth respectively, have competed every year since the first high school championship and are veteran competitors.

Pairs Event

Players from teams that failed to qualify for the semi-finals and players from schools with an insufficient number of students to form a team competed in the afternoon in the Pairs Championship.

Lucy Huang and Richard Liu from Monta Vista High School won the Newcomer Pair award.

Acknowledgements

The Bay Area High School Bridge Championship was sponsored by Silicon Valley Youth Bridge along with Peninsula Youth Bridge.

First place prizes were awarded in memory of Belle Bestor, a life-long bridge player who inspired her children to become Life Masters.

Special appreciation is due to volunteer tournament director Will Watson, as well as to Patti Frederick, who allowed us to use the space at the Bayshore Bridge Center rent-free, and to Jeanie Kwong of Peninsula Youth Bridge, who put together a fabulous lunch for players and volunteers alike. Thanks go to authors Larry Cohen for donations of bridge books, as well as Master Point Press for deep discounts, and the ACBL. As always, thanks are also due to the many volunteers who make all SiVY events possible.