The Columbia University bridge team, represented by: Yang Xu (Simon), Jiaheng Hu (Jeff), Max Krawczyk and Jing Zhang, earned themselves a 4th spot – and an all-expense paid trip to Atlanta – to the Collegiate Bridge Bowl which will take place during the summer NABCs in Atlanta.
The first qualification tournament for the Collegiate Bridge Bowl took place Sunday, March 4th. The teams played 8 matches of 6 boards each and Columbia team won 5 of their 8 matches by large margins, losing by a few imps to Georgia Tech and Princeton (which finished 1st and 3rd respectively) and defeating Berkley, which finished 2nd. The Princeton team included 2 up and coming GNYBA players: Nathan Finkle and Sam Berman.
In the next qualification round 4 more teams will go through to Atlanta and then the final 2 spots will be determined via a series of daily BBO games awarding points to individual players (top 2 teams that accumulate most points will get the last 2 spots for the final).
The four players, along with other Columbia students, have been meeting and practicing – with the help of Giorgia Botta and the GNYBA – to improve their collegiate record and bring home the win in the upcoming tournament.
The final event will be played August 2nd through 4th in Atlanta. Stay tuned for results.