Friday, July 31, 2015

Bridge Blog 840: 40% miracles

I wish I could say playing prowess elevated my master point total into double digits for July, but it didn’t. Credit goes instead to a spate of 40% games during the final week of the month.
It began with 47.5% Monday with Celine Murray. Second in the B stratification, 0.69 of a point, half red. Tuesday with Paula Kotowski should have been better than 41.96%, but nevertheless gave us second place in the B strat, fractionally ahead of the two pairs who tied for first in the C strat. Another 0.69 of a point, half red. On Wednesday, Celine and I failed to improve on Monday. Just 44.4%, but second in B again, this time good for 1.28 points, half red.

The 40% curse finally was broken Thursday in a tune-up game with Barbara Libby in preparation for the Eight Is Enough Swiss team match on Aug. 9. Despite my glaring bidding mistakes, we turned in a respectable 53.2%. The reward, however, paled next to the payoffs from those 40% games. Sixth in the A strat, we collected just 0.39 of a point. Not that I'm complaining. It put me over the hurdle. My final total for the month – 10.36. 

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Bridge Blog 839: Halfway Point

Since I only played twice in June before I underwent major surgery, I should have plunged precipitously in the master point races for players with 1,000 to 2,500 points. After all, I only picked up 1.33 points in club play.
But now that the ACBL point tabulations are posted online, I find myself still sitting in 12th place on the Ace of Clubs list for Unit 116 (Buffalo only) with 34.75 points, albeit by a razor thin margin over Gene Finton (34.64) and Elaine Kurasiewicz (34.52).
At the top of the heap, it’s a three-way race, with Fred Yellen (86.29) displacing John Ziemer (86.04), and Mike Silverman (84.24) not far behind.
After them come Martin Pieterse, 75.43; Ken Meier, 72.11; David Millward, 69.48; Walt Olszewski, 48.53; Bill Finkelstein, 48 even; Barbara Pieterse, 47.83; Allen Beroza, 47.34; Dorothy May, 38.33; and then me.
Among all Unit 116 players in all divisions, the leader is Meg Klamp with 110.95, followed by Jerry Geiger with 110.16 and Judi Marshall with 88.52. Fred Yellen is fourth on the overall list. I’m 41st.
Over on the Mini-McKenney list, which includes all points earned in everywhere, my midyear total stands at 54.43, putting me in 11th place.
Martin Pieterse leads this list with 115.17 points, followed by John Ziemer with 112.48. After them are Fred Yellen, 110.45; David Hemmer, 108.90; David Millward, 101.38; Mike Silverman, 98 even; Ken Meier, 95.57; Barbara Pieterse, 78.28; Walt Olszewski, 56.72; Allen Beroza, 55.32; then me.
Overall Unit 116 point leader is Saleh Fetouh with 186.57, followed by Meg Klamp with 168.32; Dan Gerstman, 152.08; Mike Ryan, 142.36; and Jerry Geiger, 138.69. Martin Pieterse is ninth overall. I’m 44th.
Moving on to the races in District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh), Buffalo players occupy the top four places in the 1,000 to 2,500 point Ace of Clubs category and six of the top seven. I’m 53rd on this list.

The Mini-McKenney once again is dominated by Ohio players. Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills continues on top with 329.57, followed by Fleur Howard of Gates Mills with 313.18, Peter Merker of Mentor with 201.98 and Charles Ladiha of Vermilion with 153.80. Unit 116 players hold down the seventh through tenth positions. On this list, I’m 63rd.