Confident bridge team heads to championship

Four Princeton students will travel to Nashville, Tenn. to compete as finalists in the Collegiate Team Championship bridge tournament.

Princeton bridge team members Dana Berkowitz '07, David Lin '07, Alex Lishkov '09 and Jonathan Ullman '08 are set to face teams from Stanford, UCLA and Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

Last week, teams from 26 colleges competed in the preliminary stages of the tournament through an online round-robin competition. The Princeton team emerged victorious in its bracket, earning a spot in the championship.

"The most memorable experience for me was the moment when we realized we had qualified — it was so unexpected and so exciting," Berkowitz said. "We were basically in shock."

Princeton's team, chosen from members of the Princeton Bridge Club, made it to the championship for the first time last year.

The team won second place in that competition and is determined to do better next year. "I'm going to say it," Ullman said. "We will win. After getting second place last year I don't think I can expect much less. Maybe it will inspire my teammates to play really well so I don't get embarrassed for saying this."

Despite its big hopes for a first-place finish in this year's competition, the team has struggled to find time to practice.

The members of this year's team seem to agree that the biggest source of competition this year will come from Stanford.

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"Stanford will probably be the biggest rival since they managed to win all five of their matches in the qualifiers ... so they actually got the biggest score of the four finalists," said Lishkov.

Other finalist teams, however, will also present significant opposition.

"I also think Queens University is kind of a wild card," said Lin, "Being from Kingston, Ontario, and knowing a lot of people that go to that university, it feels very close to home."

If there's enough interest this spring, the Bridge Club will offer introductory classes in the spring.

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Though it's difficult to learn the game, Lin said the rewards of playing the game are greater than the time spent battling against the "tough learning curve."

"Also, with the rise in popularity of poker, I think a lot of people would really like bridge if they only gave it a try," he added. "There's a huge poker element to the game as well."