Bridge Blog 703: July goodbye

    Sixth of the month and, just like clockwork, the ACBL has posted the updated master point race results. Chances are I’m pretty much running in place with those 19.03 points from July.

     But no. For Western New York Unit 116, basically Buffalo, I’ve moved up from fifth to fourth place in the Ace of Clubs division for players with 1,000 to 2,500 points. My total points earned in club play total 100.38, which leaves me behind John Ziemer (163.35), Mike Silverman (112.95) and Liz Clark (108.84).

     I’ve pulled ahead of David Millward, who’s now fifth with 92.47. The rest of the list looks like this: Fred Yellen (78.90), Ken Meier (75.82), Judy Padgug (72.66), Vince Pesce (66.97) and Paul Libby (66.61).

     I’m one of only seven players in Unit 116 with 100 club points or better. Leading the pack is Jerry Geiger in the 2,500 to 5,000 list, who’s slipped back ahead of John Ziemer with 164.39. Others include Meg Klamp (7,500 to 10,000 points) with 124.61 and Jim Mathis (over 10,000 points) with 112.43.

     Moving over to the Mini-McKenney race, which includes all points earned everywhere, I’m still in seventh place, but it’s a solid seventh, not a shaky one. John Ziemer’s still on top with 258.37, followed by Judy Padgug (143.80), David Hemmer (140.01), Liz Clark (133.70), Mike Silverman (126.12), Ken Meier (124.09), then me with 121.78. After that, there’s Fred Yellen (107.01), David Millward (106.75) and Paul Libby (90.69).

     Biggest point-earner in the Unit turns out to be Dan Gerstman in the over 10,000-point bracket. He’s got 292.84. Next is Chris Urbanek on the 7,500-10,000 list. She has 276.83.

     Now let’s look at District 5, which encompasses Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, points in between and bits and pieces of Maryland and West Virginia.

     On the Ace of Clubs list of players with 1,000 to 2,500 points, Unit 116 holds down the top five places and 11 of the top 13, broken only by James Quigley of Pittsburgh, sixth with 82.53, and Carl Hurd of Altoona, Pa., tenth with 67.27. In all, we have 14 of the 25. Beyond our top 10, there’s Carlton Stone (66.08, 13th), Dorothy May (58.21, 22nd), Carolyn Siracuse (58.11, 23rd) and Elaine Kurasiewicz (57.44, 24th).

     Of the district’s 13 Ace of Clubs lists, Buffalo players top six of them. Ron Henrikson leads the zero-to-5 list with 49.45. Dave Donaldson tops the 100-to-200 list with 51.51. Martin Pieterse, Bill Boardman and Barbara Pieterse crown the 500-to-1,000 list with 92.24, 80.36 and 76.56, respectively. And finally, Jerry Geiger is king of 2,500 to 5,000 and Meg Klamp is queen of 7,500 to 10,000.

     Over in the Mini-McKenney, our showing is less dominant, nine out of 25 places in the 1,000 to 2,500 list. There the Ohio players rule – Michael Creager of Brecksville with 344.70, Peter Merker of Mentor, third behind John Ziemer with 205.06 and Fleur Howard of Gates Mills, fourth with 188.17. Judy Padgug is seventh, David Hemmer is eighth, Liz Clark is ninth, Mike Silverman is 11th, Ken Meier is 13th and I’m 14th, up from 19th last month. Fred Yellen and David Millward hold down the last two rungs.

     Unit 116 and District 5 haven’t been making much of a ripple on the national Top 100 and this month is no exception.

    There Judy Zhu of Naperville, Ill., leads the 1,000 to 2,500 Ace of Clubs competition with 237.21, followed by Kenneth Wagner Jr. of Hollywood, Fla., with 194.19; Robert Ramos of Davie, Fla., with 175.55; and Michael Vermilion of Albuquerque with 167.87. John Ziemer holds down seventh place. Mike Silverman is 67th. Liz Clark is 82nd. And the list cuts off at 104.15.

     The national Mini-McKenney finds even fewer representatives from District 5. There Jim Johnsen of San Diego is tops with 764.48, followed by Shan Huang of Toronto with 589.44 and Sylvia Shi of Baltimore with 498.11. Michael Craeger is 18th. John Ziemer is 49th. This list stops at 213.31.