RENO YOUTH BRIDGE NASB CHAMPIONSHIPS WON BY PATRICK DEMPSEY AND NATHAN KERR OF SWOPE MIDDLE SCHOOL.

Saturday, March 13,2010: Amid participands from all over the world , the Reno Youth Bridge Championship Tournament was held this morning right next to over 1000 regular ACBL members seeking to win the North American Bridge Championships + Platinum Pairs.  After completing their lunch the tournament winners were announced.  Patrick Dempsey and Nathan Kerr from Swope Middle School were first overall and EW Section winners scoring a strong 66.67% game and winning 1.38 Red Master Points.  In second place overall were the North South Section winners, Karly Agerholm and Sierra Jickling also from Swope Middle School finishing only 1/2 match points behind with a very fine 65.28% game winning 1.04 Red Match points.  Twenty four participating team members played in the competition with teams from Shaw Middle School, Sparks Middle School, Billinghurst Middle School and the High Desert Montessori Charter School.  About a two dozen family members came and kibitzed their son, daughter brother or sister and gave enthusiastic but silent support for their school team.  Other partnerships placing in the event were the pair of Rebekah Wagner and Drew Hargrove and the pair of Natalie Barrett and Brittany Hazen who tied for second place in the North South Section.  Soren Duplessis and Shane Helton from HDMS placed Third overall and second in the East West Section with a 62.03% game just one board behind the winners earning .78 Red master points.  Sidney Inouye and David Cheng finished Fourth overall and also had a fine game scoring 61.11 % and earning .58 red master points.   The participants had the fun of using the new wireless electronic score pads on which the information about who played the hand, what the contract was, and the final score.  This was then affirmed by an opponent and the result automatically transmitted to the computer.  Ah yes, Duplicate Bridge has become hi-Tech                                                                                                                   

 a pair scores lower than all others playing that same hand.  At the end of the game, scores are totaled and the partnership with the highest total number of match points is declared the winner.  In Saturday’s tournament, Devon Falk and Cody Yau, of Shaw Middle School managed to score a total of 44½ match points or a whopping 61.81% game yet they finished only ½ point ahead of the second place 3 party team of Harley DeGuzman, Elijah Lyons and Soren DuPlessis of the High Desert Montessori Charter School who scored 44 points or  61.11%.  Five points behind with 39 1/2 points in third place was the team of Alex Peterson and Trevor Swetkovich of Billinghurst Middle school.  Only one point further back in fourth place was the pair of Alexis Jones and Robert Wagner, also of Shaw who finished fourth.The winner of this year’s competition, Cody Yau, said that they were able to score well by using standard bidding conventions and playing conservatively.  Good defense relies on cooperation between the players who must be efficient in keeping track of all the cards and suits played and those remaining outstanding.   The teams celebrated the completion of their first interscholastic competition after the tournament sharing some cake and beverages.  Some youths asked for  more tournaments during the summer vacation period. 

  RYB bridge teachers and teams from Billinghurst and Shaw Middle School, and High Desert Montessori Charter School  

Contract bridge is an unbelievably perfect game. It involves teamwork, problem solving, deduction, deception, reasoning, planning, bravado, communication, nuance, and luck.  It also is fun.  It provides the student with an intellectual competitive opportunity that is largely dependent on inferential reasoning and partnership communication skills based on the use of one or more of only fifteen words or phrases allowed to be used in the bidding and play of a contract.   This limitation makes it possible for people from anywhere in the world to sit down at a table together and play the game of bridge although they do not speak each other’s language.

Kathy Lane, President of Reno Youth Bridge, Inc. says the non-profit company expects to expand this fully funded after-school bridge teaching program to four or five additional Washoe County Middle Schools in the coming school year.  Ms. Lane reports the RYB budget for teacher services, text books, playing equipment and teacher material is approximately $1500 per school for the 2009-2010 school years.  Funding comes from donations by individuals and family members in the community who are interested in supporting Youth Bridge.