30. YLM: Andrew Chen - The Current Titleholder

The Setting Trick: Conversations with World Class Bridge Players

Our latest guest, Andrew Chen, is our youngest ever, by a lot! 8-year old Andrew is the ACBL’s youngest ever Life Master, a feat many spend decades striving for. In May 2020, Andrew, at the age of eight years and three days, smashed the previous record holder’s mark by more than a year. He also was the first to set the record since the requirements for being a Life Master moved from three hundred to five hundred Masterpoints.

All four members of Andrew’s immediate family, his mother Sarah, his brother Charlie and his father Steve, are bridge players. He is also a product of Silicon Valley Youth Bridge, whose pizza parties are helping introduce many young people to the game. Steve also joins us, to whom Andrew gives a lot of credit for his amazing achievement.

Episode Highlights:

1:40- Andrew’s favorite bridge player—and no, it’s not his dad :)

4:20- Andrew enjoys punishing his opponents

6:43- How Andrew decided to pursue the youngest Life Master title

9:15- The players who helped Andrew in obtaining the title

12:35- A glimpse into Andrew’s bidding system

14:34- Andrew the ambassador

16:35- How Andrew’s parents met

17:05- How Andrew’s family plays bridge.

19:15- Andrew doesn’t neglect his reading

20:43- Video games that Andrew enjoy playing

22:35- Andrew’s height

25:08- Andrew as the narrator for Double Dummy???

27:45- Andrew’s language fluencies