Bridge Prodigies

[PhilG007]

Bridge Prodigies. Those players who achieved greatness while still in their formative years...have there

ever been any? Are there any likely to be in the future?

[hrothgar]

Bridge Prodigies. Those players who achieved greatness while still in their formative years...have there

ever been any? Are there any likely to be in the future?

 

Well, here in the US most players are over 70, so...

[Phil]

There are many. Both past and present.

 

I dont understand the point of the question.

[nige1]

Justin Lall :) a great player and generous with good advice.

[1eyedjack]

Keeping an eye out for Boye Brogeland's offspring - given their exposure

[barmar]

We have two local players in the Boston area, Adam and Zach Grossack. They're 24 and 19, respectively. 2 years ago they won the NABC+ Fast Pairs together, and Zach has several other top finishes, as well as representing the US in a number of international junior championships.

[mycroft]

ACBL Queen or King of Bridge. Nope, never heard of them. Especially the second, third, and fourth of them. Anyone with a link - might still be pretty good. Two of the Canadians without a link "gave up" bridge for more rewarding pursuits; I'm proud of having had one as my teacher and occasional partner, and two as very gracious opponents.

 

If you're looking for younger than high school, see how many of this list you recognize. Note: I just learned about someone I have worked with (in a non-playing role mostly now). The things you learn!

 

I'm sure that if you look at the lists of medal winners in Junior World Championships, and parlay them out to current records, you'll find a similar number of (some non-ACBL) players who might count as prodigies.

[diana_eva]

Many from outside of ACBL land as well.

 

Giovanni Donati (Italy): http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/news_fetch.php?id=685

Tuncay Altun (Turkey): https://www.facebook.com/tuncayaltun80?fref=ts

Soren Christian Bune (Denmark): https://www.facebook.com/sorenbune?fref=ts

 

Maybe not a prodigy as in pro player yet, but cute nevertheless, Greg Humphrey's daughter: http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/news_fetch.php?id=1392

[cherdano]

My 2 year old son started browsing Bridge Worlds I had lying around. Does that count?

[Phil]

My 2 year old son started browsing Bridge Worlds I had lying around. Does that count?

 

Only if he poops on Kleinman's articles.

[barmar]

My 2 year old son started browsing Bridge Worlds I had lying around. Does that count?

Was his first word "double"?

[1eyedjack]

Does "burble" count?

[barmar]

Does "burble" count?

At the beginning of life, I suppose so. At the other end, I think it signals that it's time to give up.

[USViking]

Can't anyone provide some empirical suggestions, such as identifying the ages of the youngest people who have ever reached a certain Master Point level, or to have played in a major national competition? There should be reams of data out there.

 

Some time ago I was interested in the youngest Bermuda Bowl winners ever, and tried to look them up. The top three are, I think:

 

Michael Klukowsky, age 19, champ in 2015

Bobby Levin, age 23, champ in 1981

Agustin Madala, age 27, champ in 2013

 

 

Mandala finished 2nd in the South American Open Pairs at age 12- certainly a prodigious result. (He has a multinational background, having competed for both Argentina and Italy)

[barmar]

I moved this thread from BBO Tournaments to General Bridge Forum. I'm not sure what it ever had to do with BBO tourneys.

[Cyberyeti]

Watching David Bakhshi's daughter Jasmine who seems to be doing fine in EBU land at age 12 or so. We have a local junior who's either 12 or 13 and I suspect could be very good if she carries on with it.

[ggwhiz]

http://cbf.ca/charity/erin-berry-memorial-fund/the-life-of-erin-berry/

 

Any Canadian player or junior around at the time knows that this was a World Champion in the making.

[Zelandakh]

Since we seem to be focused on male players thus far, I can remember the Rimstedt siblings making something of a splash back in the day. The issue with bridge is that for the most part juniors show great promise but it tends to take some time before they make the breakthrough internationally and some, especially in highly competitive countries like the USA, never manage to make that step. Presumably part of that is experience but some of it is probably also the ability to get onto the best teams. Having a world class parent is helpful in that regard not only in terms of learning the pro tricks at an early age but also bringing a (perceived) stronger partnership rather than 2 unknowns.

 

Bridge is also not as "sexy" as alternatives such as poker or even the stock market, where there is a more obvious and direct path to making large sums of money. It is difficult to make the leap to being a full-time bridge pro and my guess is that the majority are essentially taking a pay cut to start out with given that we are mostly talking about highly intelligent and educated individuals. Bridge is also somewhat different from a mind sport like chess in terms of development. In chess, if you have not reached the top level by 14 you can pretty much give up, whereas there seems to be a longer window in bridge. The vast majority of top players do display talent as juniors though, so perhaps a good starting question is to ask how much talent/success is required for someone to be considered a prodigy? Depending on the answer, you can probably make it so that either the majority of world class players qualify, or that practically none do.

[PhantomSac]

Since we seem to be focused on male players thus far, I can remember the Rimstedt siblings making something of a splash back in the day.

 

Haha funny since now there are 2 more young Rimstedts making quite a splash today! FWIW I asked the brothers and they said Cecilia is the best player in their family (which is what I would have guessed).

 

Madala was the obv response I was thinking of when I read the title of this thread. He was incredible at a very young age (and has certainly lived up to the hype he had!).