Leveling Up

Owen Lien

Owen Lien grew up in Hickory, NC, and now live in Oak Park, MI. He started playing bridge at 9 and now has over 20,000 masterpoints. He was a member of the US Junior Bridge Team from 2006 - 2014, winning the World Junior Championship in 2013. He worked in Real Estate Appraising from 2011 - 2015; now he works as a full-time bridge pro.

Kai Eckert

Kai Eckert learned Bridge in July 2018 after his grandmother refused to teach him. He learned on vacation to surprise her, and then Bridge turned into being a little bit a lot. He could never seem to get enough Bridge in his life, so he found clubs, tournaments, SIVY, Twitch (V8mama’s livestream) and the USBF Jr. Training program. During this time, he also is working on an online business administration degree but, that doesn’t really matter, his primary major is Bridge. He hasn’t had any outstanding playing achievements yet, but he is immersed in many aspects of Bridge. He is a teacher in the San Francisco Area, an ACBL Associate Tournament Director, and an online content creator. He made the Bridgin’ With Kai YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@BridginWithKai] and you might have seen him all over, on the ACBL YouTube Channel, BBO YouTube Channel, on the Funbridge webpages, as a celebrity daily challenger on IntoBridge, or collaborating with many other Bridge content creators. His main goal in life is to help spread Bridge and facilitate the growth of a fun and enthusiastic player base the likes of which the Bridge hasn’t yet imagined! Please don’t forget to go give his work some support but subscribing to Bridgin’ With Kai [https://www.youtube.com/@BridginWithKai] (IT’S FREE) and check out a few videos! His enthusiasm for Bridge is infectious!

David Gold

David Gold started as a top junior chess player before her learned bridge at school around age 16. David has been a fixture on England’s open team since 2004, winning a silver medal in the World Bridge Games in 2008. He won bronze medals in world championships in 2017 and 2022. In the US, he won the Vanderbilt in 2023 and the Mitchell BAM in 2017. David has won many events in the UK, including victory in the Gold Cup five times, Premier League nine times, and Spring Foursomes three times. He was the winner of the inaugural Player of the Year Championship for the 2014/15 season.

Josh Donn

Josh Donn (or Jdonn, as he is commonly known in the world of bridge) is a professional bridge player, teacher, and writer. He was a member of the winning US junior team at the World Junior Team Championships in 2006. He won the Jacoby Open Swiss Teams recently in St. Louis, the Blue Ribbon Pairs in 2011, and the Roth Open Swiss Teams three times, in 2008, 2016, and 2019. Josh first learned bridge in 1996, playing exclusively with his parents and grandparents for the first several years. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 2004 with a double major in mathematics and economics and a minor in actuarial studies. He moved to Los Angeles for two years and worked as an actuary, before finally settling in Las Vegas in 2006. He worked as a supervisor and manager in the Casino Accounting departments of several major casinos for the next eight years, jumping from the Bellagio to the MGM Grand to the Cosmopolitan. He resigned to become a full-time bridge player at the end of 2014. He also worked for BBO for the next four years, helping improve GIB and do cheating investigations. Along with playing and teaching private lessons, Josh has co-written a book, written numerous columns, taught seminars, volunteered on several committees, and regularly gives free lectures at regionals.

Adam Wildavsky

Adam Wildavsky [http://tameware.com/adam/bridge/] is a retired software engineer and lifelong bridge enthusiast. An MIT graduate, he is an avid skier, swimmer, and Lindy Hop dancer. A student of Objectivism—the philosophy of Ayn Rand—he believes its principles are especially valuable for bridge players. When not traveling, Adam divides his time between Colorado in the winter and New York City, Paris, and Sarasota in the summer. Adam is a two-time winner of the Blue Ribbon Pairs (1992, 1997), a Reisinger BAM winner (2003), and a Bronze Medalist in the 2003 Bermuda Bowl. He has won multiple national and international titles, including the USBC (Open Team Trials) in 2003 and 2009, the Lebhar IMP Pairs and Fast Open Pairs in 2008, and the inaugural JLall Memorial online event in 2020. He has over a hundred regional victories and has represented both the United States and Switzerland in international play. Away from the table, Adam serves on the WBF Executive Council and chairs its Technology Committee. He is the Vice-Chair of the ACBL National Laws Commission and has held numerous administrative roles advancing fair play and tournament innovation. As a writer and theorist, Adam has contributed to The Bridge World, Bridge Today, and the ACBL’s Magazine and Daily Bulletins. He co-created the “Keller” convention and is an authority on the Kaplan-Sheinwold bidding system. His advocacy of Ayn Rand’s ideas in relation to bridge led to a 2003 New York Times Magazine profile titled “Ayn Rand in Spades [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/29/magazine/ayn-rand-in-spades.html?unlocked_article_code=1.M1A.5MjV.GXpXhHMY2aj4&smid=url-share].”