Bridge - the best game ever invented (and the game of my life)
This page is dedicated to Evan Bailey (5/12/1929 - 3/30/2008), whose charisma and enlightenments will inspire me forever.
"You may find us a little larger than life, but that is only because life at times is apt to be too drab and dreary."
-- The Hideous Hog, in Victor Mollo's Bridge in the Menagerie
When I was taught to play bridge more than a decade and a half ago, I knew instantly it was the game for me. However I wasn't introduced to duplicate bridge until 2002. From that moment, the fish has met the water and the stage was set for me. Words can hardly express my love and passion for this game. My dream is to become the world's greatest player. It is admittedly an ambitious dream, but I have never stopped working towards it. I am fortunate to be a student of Joel Hoersch who would never let me stop improving my game. I am also blessed to have at various occasions played with and learned from some top experts in the nation such as Evan Bailey, Jade Barrett, Steve Cooper, Jason Feldman, Marshall Miles and Ivar Stakgold. Below are some highlights of my bridge career so far:
Mini-Spingold I (0-5000)
I was the national runner-up of the seven-day Mini-Spingold I (0-5000) with Stephen Tu, Warren Cederborg and Greg Michaels in the Las Vegas Summer NABC in 2008.
Excerpt from the November 2008 Bridge Bulletin (to come)
San Diego Regional
Playing on home ground, I was the top masterpoint winner of the 62nd Pacific Southwest Regional (a.k.a. San Diego Regional) in 2007 with a record-breaking 104.86 masterpoints.
Masterpoint Races
I was the winner of both ACBL Mini-McKenney and Aces of Clubs national races for my category (100 to 200) in 2006. Many thanks to all my partners, teammates and supporters in San Diego area and San Francisco Bay area for such a great year to remember! In addition, I was on the ACBL Barry Crane Top 500 list for 2006, 2007 and 2008.
My other successes (or failures in some cases, depending on how optimistic you are) so far include:
National events (NAOP = North American Open Pairs, GNT = Grand National Teams):
First (1st) place in NAOP Flight C District 22 final, Palm Springs CA, December 2005 (with Sriram Ramabhadran).
Ninth (9th) place in NAOP Flight C national final, Dallas TX, April 2006 (with Sriram Ramabhadran).
First (1st) place in GNT Flight C District 22 final, San Diego CA, April 2006 (with Raza Mobin, Sriram Ramabhadran and Chong Zhao).
Semi-finalist in GNT Flight C national final, Chicago IL, July 2006 (with Jon King, Sriram Ramabhadran and Chong Zhao).
Second (2nd) place in NAOP Flight C District 22 final, Palm Springs CA, December 2006 (with Jon King).
First (1st) place in NAOP Flight C national final, St. Louis MO, March 2007 (with Jon King).
First (1st) place in GNT Flight B District 22 final, San Diego CA, April 2007 (with Jon King, Sriram Ramabhadran and Chong Zhao).
Quarter-finalist in GNT Flight B national final, Nashville TN, July 2007 (with Jon King, Sriram Ramabhadran and Chong Zhao).
Second (2nd) place in NAOP Flight B District 22 final, Palm Springs CA, December 2007 (with Ron Fertig).
Second (2nd) place in NAOP Flight B national final, Detroit MI, March 2008 (with Ron Fertig).
Second (2nd) place in GNT Championship Flight District 22 final, San Diego CA, March 2008 (with Jon Wright, Joel Hoersch and Greg Michaels).
Second (2nd) place (49th seed out of 99 teams) in 0-5000 Mini-Spingold, Las Vegas NV, July 2008 (with Stephen Tu, Warren Cederborg and Greg Michaels).
Second (2nd) place in GNT Championship Flight District 22 final, Dana Point CA, April 2010 (with David Chechelashvili, Alexander Kolesnik and Jim Munday).
Top-flight/bracket regional titles and runner-ups (two or more session events, including regional-rated events at NABCs):
San Diego CA, April 2007 (with Jon Wright)
(Runner-up) San Diego CA, April 2007 (with Roger Doughman, Gene Freed and Bill Wickham)
Riverside CA, Feburary 2008 (with Jon Wright, Bill Hall and Joel Hoersch)
(Runner-up) San Diego CA, March 2008 (with Jon Wright, John Coufal and Rick Roeder)
(Runner-up) Los Angeles CA, March 2008 (with Rick Roeder, Steve Goldstein and Marshall Miles)
Las Vegas NV, July 2008 (with Rick Roeder)
San Diego CA, April 2009 (with Rick Roeder, Kitty & Steve Cooper and Ann Labe)
Top-flight/bracket sectional titles (many runner-ups, not listed):
Hollister CA, June 2006 (with Nongyu Li)
San Diego CA, November 2006 (with Roger Doughman)
San Diego CA, March 2007 (with Jon Wright, Kent Hartman and Roberto Scaramuzzi)
Inglewood CA, May 2007 (with Rick Roeder, Steve Goldstein and Marshall Miles)
Oceanside CA, October 2007 (with Jon Wright, David Chechelashvili and Rick Roeder)
San Diego CA, November 2007 (with Jon Wright, Jason Feldman and Rick Roeder)
San Diego CA, April 2008 (with Jon Wright, Mike Crawford and Roger Doughman)
Oceanside CA, May 2008 (with Rick Roeder, Ivar Stakgold and Jon Wright)
San Diego CA, November 2008 (with Rick Roeder)
San Diego CA, November 2008 (with Jon Wright)
San Diego CA, May 2009 (with Ron Fertig) (two-session pairs event)
San Diego CA, May 2009 (with Ron Fertig, John Coufal and Rick Roeder)
Oceanside CA, July 2009 (with David Chechelashvili, Ivar Stakgold and Jon Wright)
San Diego CA, November 2009 (with Ron Fertig)
Lower-bracket regional titles while playing professionally:
(Bracket 4) Palm Springs CA, December 2008 (with Phil Clayton, Sally & Steve Clark and Vicki Rauscher)
(Bracket 2) Riverside CA, January 2009 (with Phil Clayton, Sally & Steve Clark and Judith Hecktman)
ACBL ranks:
Life Master, July 2006
Bronze Life Master, September 2006
Silver Life Master, July 2007
Resources
I occasionally run my own bidding panel consisting of top players in San Diego area:
I regularly play at Adventures In Bridge, where I was the first person in the club's history to have two weekly games named after him/her:
The Zhoughman Open Pairs on Tuesday mornings, named after Roger Doughman and me
The Zhou-Roeder Masters' Open Pairs (formerly San Diego Masters Club, founded by Jim Backstrom in 2003) on Wednesday evenings, named after Rick Roeder and me
