Provide the name of the former military installation that is home to the Ordonez Gun. During what war was it captured? Hundreds of students from the top high schools in the Bay Area will be dealing with such questions this weekend, during the annual Friends of Millard Fillmore Trivia Hunt, an intense research competition.

Led by two first-year captains, senior Alex Jozefov and junior Alexei Koseff, Paly’s team for this year is mostly comprised of freshmen and sophomores, according to teacher adviser Arne Lim.

“Many experienced players graduated two years ago [when Paly won the competition], and last year went the remnants of another crop,” Lim said. “This year, there are fewer returning players than in the past.”

Koseff is optimistic about the members of the team.

“We have a group of really enthusiastic members who have been doing the hunt for a couple of years,” Koseff said. “We are fortunate to have a solid core.”

Although Paly has a history of doing well in the competition, the initial lack of organization displayed by this year’s leaders resulted in many weaknesses for the team; the new members of the team have no training on how to research or document a course, according to Lim. The team does not have a treasury and is unsure if they have a means of transportation for all participants, he added.

“We are far behind the timeline in organizing what is necessary to set up the team,” Lim said.

The most difficult part has been getting new members for the team, according to Koseff. At last year’s competition, Paly had only 30 participants, while Carlmont had over 300, and Castilleja, nearly 150. Members of the Paly team are aware of their shortage, though Lim still predicts the deficit will remain the same this year.

“The more people you have, the easier it is to search for answers,” Koseff said.

“There has been virtually no marketing here at Paly either through the bulletin or electronic mailers,” Lim said. “We’re also going up against the Winter Formal [which is this weekend].”

The team will first visit Carlmont High School, which has been holding the competition for more than 25 years to test student research skills, tonight to receive more than 50 trivia questions, according to Koseff and Jozefov. The members will then return to Paly and meet with their friends and relatives at 7 p.m. at the school library to brainstorm answers for three hours.

Over the course of the weekend, students will be searching for documents at different libraries to support their answers.

“Our main source is Palo Alto Main Library,” Koseff said. “They are a great resource because they have tons of back issues of magazines and newspapers stored downstairs.”

Access to the Stanford libraries would play a crucial role in the competition, though the university has officially banned Millard Fillmore competitors due to past mayhem done to library books, according to Lim. The team hopes to have at least a few of the competitors to get information from Stanford libraries, Lim said.

Despite all of the disadvantages and difficulties in preparing the team for the competition, both Lim and Koseff think the team will perform well.

“It is the case that this year’s leadership is much more reactive than proactive,” Lim said. “Nevertheless, I believe we will come in the top three. Somehow, we have just had a knack for performing well under pressure.”

“I think the team has a lot of motivated, excited people,” Koseff said. “We’ll do great once again.”