SiVY Bridge Participants Have Fun, Make Friends and Win Masterpoints

2017 Youth North American Bridge Championships, Toronto, Canada

In Total 28 players from SiVY attended YNABC. 24 of them posed for this group photo on Friday.

The twenty-eight youth players from Silicon Valley had a great time at the recent Youth North American Bridge Championships (YNABC) in Toronto, Canada. Every participant placed in at least one event – in total the group won a total nearly 500 masterpoints in Toronto. SiVY players won the both Pairs and Team Championships and the Sportsmanship Awards. The accomplishments are so numerous that a complete list is too lengthy for this article, but can be found here.

Lucas, Rory, Brent, Michael H, Arthur, and Michael Z pose with trophies and their coach, Kevin Rosenberg. These winners of pair and team championship events credit Kevin’s coaching as key to their bridge success.

The 30 table National Youth Open Pairs, contested Friday, was won by the SiVY duo of Lucas Huang and Michael Zheng. The 33 table National Youth Swiss Team, contested Saturday, was won by Michael Hu, Arthur Zhou, Brent Xiao, and Rory Xiao. Each of the championship event winners received a $1000 scholarship as well as an impressive trophy. Also noteworthy is that ten other SiVY players finished in the overalls of the pair event and seven other SiVY players finished in the overalls of the team event. SiVY players therefore represented more than a third of the overall winners!

Jacob Shireson, winner of the Sportsmanship Award

SiVY Player Jacob Schireson was awarded the Master Point Press Sportsmanship Award by vote of the other players with input from the tournament directors.  Jacob isn't quite sure of anything specific he did to win the award, but did say "We tried hard to make sure everyone had a good time at our table. Our goal was to make everyone's day a little better. After all, bridge is a game and should be fun, even when you're playing for a national championship." Randy Ryals, SiVY President, was impressed with this achievement, saying “Of all the wins by SiVY players, I’m most proud of this one.  It’s great to have one of our youth set an example for his peers as well as for adult bridge players.” 

Less experienced SiVY players, even though unlikely to walk away with a big trophy or scholarship, also thoroughly enjoyed the tournament. Jacob Schireson and Jake Warsaw were all smiles, even after their 78.75% game was only good enough for 2nd place in the Cardrook! Aman Desai met his partner Max for the first time at the partnership desk. Max’s family had planned to leave Toronto on Friday, but Max and Aman had such a good time playing that Max’s family rearranged their plans so they could play together for the rest of the tournament!

Here are some of the things the participants said when asked their favorite part about the experience:

• “Meeting other juniors from around the country and the midnight knockouts.” Cornelius Duffie
• “I met a lot of youth players (including some I have played against in USBF junior training program) and teamed up with them at Zip KO.” Stella Wan
• “Midnight Knockout. It was fun playing with adults and it was more casual which I enjoyed.” Jake Warsaw
• “It was a fun way to hang out with my friends.” Elsa Schleicher

And, of course, several said their favorite part was “winning.” In this way, perhaps the youth are not that different than adult players?

SiVY players also participated in many of the Regional and National events open to players of all ages at the North American Bridge Championships (NABC). They dominated the Midnight Team games and did exceptionally well in the Werner Open Pairs. In the finals, one pair even doubled SiVY Founding President and World Champion, Debbie Rosenberg for a +800 and top board! And as members of the Flight C Grand National teams, Michael Hu and partner Arthur Zhou brought home 90 masterpoints and their first (of many to be sure!) National Championship.

In total over 240 youth under age 19 attended the three day YNABC in Toronto. They came from all over the U.S., Canada and Bermuda. The 28 sponsored by Silicon Valley Youth (SiVY) Bridge were provided help with partnerships, training and mentoring, and financial support. Generous donations from bridge players in both the Silicon Valley and around the country helped pay for the scholarships. District 21 of the ACBL also provided financial support. Thank you to all the donors, youth players, parents, and volunteers!