Browsing the shelves of Kennedy Middle School’s library in eighth grade, current junior Sarah Cai found “The Cardturner.” Cai loved “The Cardturner” both as a novel and as an introduction to the game of Bridge. Entranced by both the novel and the game, Cai immediately borrowed the book. Later, when current junior Jasmine Wang, came to her house, Wang picked up “The Cardturner” and began reading it as well. Wang was similarly interested in the book and eventually, current junior Sophie Lian and the rest of Cai’s group of friends converted into Bridge enthusiasts as well.

Bridge is a card game that involves four people placed into two teams of two. At a square table, the two players in a team sit across from each other. Not only can they not see each other’s cards, but they are not allowed to speak to each other, make hand signals, or communicate in any other explicit way. They have to beat the other team communicating only through how they play.

“[Bridge] is fun, but at the same time it involves probability and memory and teamwork,” Lian said.

As they entered high school, Cai, Wang, Lian and their friends continued to play bridge together nearly every day during lunch. Naturally, when they heard about Bridge Club over the announcements, they rushed to join.

There, they met then junior Kevin Rosenberg, the club’s founder and the son of two nationally renowned bridge players. Rosenberg coached the new members, arranged many Bridge activities outside of school and led the club to first place in the Bay Area High School Bridge Championship.

Wang’s early memories from Bridge Club also include the aggressive player senior Aidan Gottlieb. During the bidding portion of the game, in which players bid how many rounds they can win, Gottlieb would often bid extremely large numbers of rounds. Of course, Gottlieb usually was unable to win that many rounds — but not all of the time.

“One time he put [the highest bid possible] down, and we all thought it was a joke, so we played it,” said Wang. “And [he and his partner] actually made it.”

Because she had a free period, Cai sometimes went home instead of going to the Bridge Club meetings at lunch. As the year progressed, Cai missed meetings more often, and by sophomore year, wasn’t attending at all.

So as sophomores, Wang and Lian were left in charge of the club with Cai inactive and Rosenberg already graduated. They did, however, gain a mentor: Cheryl Mandala. Mandala is an experienced and patient bridge player whose children graduated from MVHS, and gladly offered her assistance when she heard the Bridge Club was in need. After a year of hard work with Mandala, the pair of sophomores attended the Bay Area High School Bridge Championship again, only to walk away a few points shy of victory.

This year, aside from honing their own skills for competitions, Wang and Lian have helped guide new members.

Sophomore Sam Yang, who joined this year and is one of the club’s most frequent members, enjoys the logical aspect of Bridge. As such, his favorite part of the card game is the bidding stage.

“It’s like a conversation,” Yang said. “Every bid you put down says something about your hand, and every bid your opponent puts down, you have to take something from it.”

Yang’s father has won national Bridge championships, but Yang did not play Bridge frequently before joining the club. Now, Mandala has taught Yang many different conventions in Bridge so that he can better implement the strategies that his father has told him about.

Cai has also restarted her involvement in the club. Now, she finds that Wang and Lian are more experienced at the game than she is. Nonetheless, Cai now attends nearly every meeting to enjoy the games and the time the six members spend together. It’s almost as if she never stopped playing.

This year, MVHS Bridge Club placed third in the Bay Area High School Bridge Championship. As they wrap up the school year, the bridge enthusiasts have their minds set on an even higher placing for next year.