The Cal team of Rebecca Wernis, Armin Askan, Raymond Von Mizener, and Isha Thapa won the collegiate Bridge Championship beating the University of North Carolina in the finals.

https://web3.acbl.org/bulletin-viewer/?control=page&yyyymm=201409&featureID=27&pageNum=20

:bravo:bravo

Link isn't working...

Bridge? At Cal?? Hmm. Like getting a trophy for eighth place. You're joking about a national title, I hope.

^^^ Nah, Cal wins at all kinds of obscure stuff. My little sister was on Cal's Ultimate Frisbee team...and they won the national club title in Boulder.

I wonder how many small and grand slams they bid and made

beelzebear;842352042 said:

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Link isn't working...

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For the exhilarating, action-packed, mind-blowing play-by-play, see:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/crosswords/bridge/in-bridge-the-collegiate-championship-in-las-vegas.html?_r=0

We won the National Bridge Championship!?!

How emBEARrassing...

liverflukes;842352169 said:

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We won the National Bridge Championship!?!

How emBEARrassing...

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How did our quidditch team do this year?

ducky23;842352172 said:

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How did our quidditch team do this year?

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Hopefully as well as our Hunger Games team?

ducky23;842352172 said:

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How did our quidditch team do this year?

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Swept

Congratulations. We won at something. Maybe our chess team can build on the momentum. And - dare we dream - Model UN? #dominoes

liverflukes;842352173 said:

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Hopefully as well as our Hunger Games team?

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I'm sure there must be a good number of us on this board that play bridge but I gather from the comments here that most do not. I lived in a frat andI remember coming back from class in the afternoon and there would be the same bridge game I'd left earlier in the morning still in progress.

I still play but only occasionally. The numbers of players have diminished over time. My parents taught me and my siblings the game when we were young. A very enjoyable and social game.

Yesterday I was shopping at Horton Plaza (San Diego) and I came across a chess match on the second level. Player 1 was clearly on the wrong end and was taking well over 7-8 min to make his moves. Player 2 was on the offensive and making his moves within 15 seconds. When my girlfriend showed up, it was time to leave. I walked over to player 2 and congratulated him on his pending victory. Checkmate was imminent in 4-5 moves. He grinned and said thank you. Player 1 was pissed.

Oh, did I mention player 2 was wearing a Cal hat? Player 1 was wearing something in red with an S.

We should win every year with all bridges we have in the Bay Area.

I don't know much about bridge, I assume it's more about chance than skill. But then there are some top schools participating like Cal Tech, Princeton, and Columbia. This leads me to believe there's more to this game.

Too bad Sandy left. She would have introduced them at half time. I would like to see their uniforms

oskirules;842352409 said:

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I don't know much about bridge, I assume it's more about chance than skill. But then there are some top schools participating like Cal Tech, Princeton, and Columbia. This leads me to believe there's more to this game.

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Duplicate Bridge is in fact the opposite of what you describe; much more about skill, according to my wife, a Life Master level duplicate bridge player, and Cal alum.

oskirules;842352409 said:

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I don't know much about bridge, I assume it's more about chance than skill. But then there are some top schools participating like Cal Tech, Princeton, and Columbia. This leads me to believe there's more to this game.

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This was a SWISS Bridge game. That means Cal's North-south played against North Carolina's East-West. Then the same hands were played with Cal's east-west playing NCs north-south. In other words, both teams east west played the same hand and both north-souths played the same hand. So it was a contest to see which team could do the best with the hands they were dealt.

RichyBear;842352532 said:

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This was a SWISS Bridge game. That means Cal's North-south played against North Carolina's East-West. Then the same hands were played with Cal's east-west playing NCs north-south. In other words, both teams east west played the same hand and both north-souths played the same hand. So it was a contest to see which team could do the best with the hands they were dealt.

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I have no idea what you are talking about.

Yes, duplicate bridge is 100% about skill. There is not luck or probability like in a weak game like Texas hold 'em. Hardest game in the world. There's a reason IBM's Big Blue can beat chess masters, but can't beat life masters at bridge. There's too many options, too much inference, too many ways to communicate with your partner, and at the same time trying to confuse your opponents. Best game in the world bar none. There's a reason Bill Gates and Warren Buffett fell in love with it, among many others.

Congrats to our team.

NYCGOBEARS;842352596 said:

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I have no idea what you are talking about.

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LOL. Sorry, RichyBear, I also have no idea what you just said so I will have to look it up. In the meantime, Cal just won the national championship doing this stuff.

oskirules;842352409 said:

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I don't know much about bridge, I assume it's more about chance than skill.

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Only if you're playing for rubbers and not duplicate.

oskirules;842352696 said:

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LOL. Sorry, RichyBear, I also have no idea what you just said so I will have to look it up. In the meantime, Cal just won the national championship doing this stuff.

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All I know is that if you want to do well at cards, you have to play the Midwest Check System (and I know, pinochle and bridge are different).

RichyBear;842352532 said:

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This was a SWISS Bridge game. That means Cal's North-south played against North Carolina's East-West. Then the same hands were played with Cal's east-west playing NCs north-south. In other words, both teams east west played the same hand and both north-souths played the same hand. So it was a contest to see which team could do the best with the hands they were dealt.

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To nitpick, the qualifications and preliminary rounds are Swiss, while the semifinals and finals are knockouts, but your point remains valid since both are team matches where the boards get passed between tables so the same cards are played (just different scoring and use of a bracket format in knockouts).

GB54;842352428 said:

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Too bad Sandy left. She would have introduced them at half time. I would like to see their uniforms

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Probably something out of Alice in Wonderland.