Junior Battle

A great opportunity to see juniors in the USBF junior training program take part in an exhibiton match.

James Holzhauer (of Jeopardy! fame), and Zach Grossack each captain a team. Commentators are international stars of the game, Larry Cohen and George Jacobs. They will comment live on RealBridge. You will be able to ask them a question in text or in video.

What system are they playing? All players are playing the same standard 2/1 system, but will they bid the same way?

Click here to watch on July 5 @ 9pm (EST). No account is needed, just put your name in and join the event.

James’ team:
Harrison Luba: “I am 18 years old and my grandparents and great-grandmother taught me bridge at the age of 8 in South Carolina. I moved to Massachusetts when I was 12 and have played competitively ever since. I am going to be a freshman at Emory University in the Fall, planning to study chemistry.”

Luke Williams: “I am a 21 year old who grew up in San Diego and recently moved to Seattle. My grandparents taught my brother and me to play bridge when I was 9 and he was 12, and we’ve played together ever since. I’m entering my senior year at Pomona College where I study politics and psychology.”

Reese Koppel: “I study behavioral economics and data science at Yale. Besides bridge, I dabble in chess, music production (both house music and engineering beats), tennis and golf. I love reading and watching my hometown New Orleans Pelicans and Saints. Within the bridge world, I was the 2018 ACBL King of Bridge, I serve as a trustee on the ACBL Educational Foundation and I have coached bridge both at Yale as well as privately.”

Zach’s Team
Michael Xu: “Five days from now I’ll be 19. I grew up in the Bay Area, California, and I currently study mathematics and computer science at Amherst College. I am not sure of what I want to do in the future, but currently quant trading and software engineering seems intriguing. My bridge goal is to win a big event with my mentor, Michael Rosenberg.”

Jake Williams: “My brother and I learned to play together in San Diego. I attended Harvey Mudd College where I competed collegiately in both bridge and tennis. I am now 24 and attending the University of Chicago, where I am working towards a PhD in Computer Science, focusing on machine learning and inverse problems.”

William Scott: “I graduated from Tufts University in 2021 and am now a software developer in the healthcare industry. I learned to play bridge at age 12 but started playing more seriously in 2019, and my favorite contract to declare is four hearts (one notrump is a close second). Outside of bridge, I enjoy distance running and following the NBA.”