Friday, March 10, 2017

Bridge Blog 945: My partners are on a losing streak

When I tell Selina Volpatti today (Friday, March 10) that I'm going to write a blog with this title, she denies being complicit. Then we turn around and have a 45.86% game. A couple weeks ago a score that low actually earned us points at the Bridge Centre of Niagara in St. Catharines, Ont., but not this time. We're 11th of 15 North-Souths and we'd need at least 48.25% to finish fourth in the B strat.
Actually, I think I can let Selina off the hook. I blew this day off on the very first two hands. First there's the slam we don’t reach.
Dlr:
North
Vul:
None
K J 6 4 3 2
A 4 2
A 4
K Q

Q 5
10 8 7
Q J 10 5 2
6 5 4
W
e
s
t
North
E
a
s
t
17
South
10 8 7
J 9 5 3
6
10 9 7 3 2
17
5
1
17
A 9
K Q 6
K 9 8 7 3
A J 8
 It’s all in the bidding. Selina’s North, opens a Spade. I bid 2 Diamonds. She rebids 2 Spades. I look at my 17 points, could have opened 1 No Trump, and ponder. What to bid? I put down the 4 Spades card. Wrong choice. I should bid 4 NT, asking for Aces. East leads a Diamond and Selina takes all 13 tricks. Turns out even 6 Spades gives us an average-minus result – 6 match points out of 14 instead of 2. The good contract is 6 NT.
Next board, I double our opponents at 3 Spades. According to the hand record, they shouldn’t make it, but these guys do. At most tables, East-West only take eight tricks. Not here. Instead of tying for top, we get a bottom board. If these two hands went our way, we’d be fourth in B.
Dlr:
East
Vul:
N/S
A Q
J 10 7 4 2
2
A J 10 9 3

10 9 7 6
Q 9
K Q 7 5
K 7 5
W
e
s
t
North
E
a
s
t
18
South
K 8 5 4
K 8 5 3
A 6
Q 4 2
12
10
12
6
J 3 2
A 6
J 10 9 8 4 3
8 6
 Elsewhere, we’d finish even better if I don’t push to not one, not two, but three disastrous doubled sacrifice bids. Here I'm in love with my void and my seven-card suit, so I go to 5 Hearts rather than let the opponents play in Spades. We’re vulnerable, they’re not. They can’t make 4 Spades.
Dlr:
North
Vul:
N/S
Q J 8 2
6 4
A Q 10 9 5 2
6

A K 10 9 5 4
A 8 5
7
Q 8 4
W
e
s
t
North
E
a
s
t
21
South
7 6 3
Q
J 8 6 3
A J 7 5 3
9
13
8
W
10
--
K J 10 9 7 3 2
K 4
K 10 9 2
That’s a bottom board instead of an average-plus of 8.5 match points. Later on, we pick up a couple minus 800s. On the first one, I thought our advantage in vulnerability and our big Spade suit would save us with a minus 500. Not!!!
Dlr:
East
Vul:
E/W
10 9 4 3
6 2
9 8 7 2
9 4 3

J
K Q 10 9 5
A Q 10 4
K 10 7
W
e
s
t
North
E
a
s
t
6
South
6 2
A J 3
K J 5 3
A Q 5 2
0
15
15
10
A K Q 8 7 5
8 7 4
6
J 8 6
East-West can make 6 Hearts, but only a couple of them bid the slam. If we let them play it at 4 Hearts, it’s an average board. This next one is an absolute bottom.
Dlr:
South
Vul:
None
10 9 6 5
10 6 5 4
A K J 3
Q

A K 8 2
J 9
2
A K J 10 9 5
W
e
s
t
North
E
a
s
t
11
South
--
K Q 8 3 2
Q 10 8 6 5 4
8 7
10
16
7
7
Q J 7 4 3
A 7
9 7
6 4 3 2

What happens here is that Selina doubles West’s 1 Club opener, I bid my Spade suit and, between the two of us, we wind up at 4 Spades doubled. East-West can make 5 Clubs, but our opponents decide not to play it there. If we stop competing and let them go for less than game in Clubs, we’re average-plus. If we could resist our sacrificial urges, we’d finish over 50%. 

Bridge Blog 945-A: The awful proof

This month has been pathetic, redeemed only by the occasional miracle of stratification. Here’s the sorry story:
March 1 with June Feuerstein, 48.21%, second in C, 0.22 of a point.
March 2 with Marietta Kalman, 45.46%.
March 3 with Pawan Matta, 49.31%, third in B, 0.28 of a point.
March 4 with Denise Slattery, 49.89%, second in C, 0.22 of a point.
March 6 with Nadine Stein, 46.19%.
March 7 with Joyce Greenspan, 37.96%.
March 8 with Marilyn Sultz, 45%.
March 9 with Marietta again, 44.87%.
March 10 with Selina Volpatti, 45.86%.

Of course, as you can see by Blog 945, it’s a joint effort and I do more than my share of fouling up. 

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Bridge Blog 944: Fanfare for February

The results are in. The ACBL has updated the master point races. My totals for the year so far: 24.62 Ace of Clubs (club play only), 31.11 Mini McKenney (all points earned everywhere). Most of those came in January, though. In February, I earned only 5.42 club points, 5.94 points overall.
And what did my miserable February cost me? Not much placement in the Ace of Clubs race for the Ruby Life Masters (1,500 to 2,500 master points) in Unit 116 (Buffalo only).
I'm still second, runner-up to Mike Silverman, although he now has a bigger lead. Here's the Top 10:
Mike Silverman, 33.17 (second overall among all players in the unit); me, 24.62 (fifth overall, slipping from third); Fred Yellen, 17.98 (12th); Gene Finton, who's down in Delray Beach, Fla., 15.56 (17th); Dorothy May, 13.89 (22nd); Ken Meier, 13.11 (28th); Allen Beroza, 9.57 (41st); Vince Pesce, 8.59 (50th); Sue Bergman, 7.75 (59th); and Chuck Schorr, 7.10 (65th).
Ace of Clubs leader for all of Unit 116 is Meg Klamp, who's also in Florida. She's got 40.07. Then it's Mike Silverman, 33.17; Tom Koralewski, 29.07; Liz Clark, 28.83; moi, 24.62; Jerry Geiger, 21.95; John and Martha Welte, both 19.03; Bud Seidenberg, 18.80; and Art Matthies, 18.51.
As for the Mini McKenney race, which includes all points earned everywhere, Mike Silverman is on top here too with 34.11, but that only makes him 12th overall among all Unit 116 players. I was first in January, but only second now with 31.11, and 15th overall, down from 13th. Then it's Fred Yellen, 29.83 (19th); Ken Meier, 24.48 (25th); Gene Finton, 15.56 (40th); Dorothy May, 15.19 (44th); Chongmin Zhang, 12.19 (58th); Allen Beroza, 10.01 (73rd); and Art Morth, 9.61 (77th).
On top of the entire unit are Christy Kellogg and Bert Hargeshimer, who cleaned up at the Cleveland regional and the Buffalo and St. Catharines sectionals. Christy has 60.02 points. Bert has 57.20.
Then it's Meg Klamp, 53.07; Tom Koralewski, 49.59; Liz Clark, 48.80; John Ziemer, 44.95; David Hemmer, 44.07; Davis Heussler, 42.01; Mike Ryan, 39.81; Bud Seidenberg, 37.08; and Linda Burroughsford, 36.07; before we get to Mike Silverman.
And where is last year's Mini McKenney master, Saleh Fetouh? Sitting in 29th place with 22.12, one rung ahead of another perennial high-flyer, Jerry Geiger, who has 21.95.
Onward to the District 5 level (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh). Mike Silverman continues as Ace of Clubs leader among Ruby Life Masters here too, but just seventh among all District 5 players, down from fourth. I'm the fourth Ruby this month, down from second, behind William Lindren of Slippery Rock, Pa. (27.08) and Chantal Whitney of Bratenahl, Ohio (24.95). Overall, I'm 19th, down from ninth.
Tied for fifth among Rubies are Adrienne and Sanford Ozan, listed as denizens of Boynton Beach, Fla, who have 19.13 points. Fred Yellen is ninth, 55th overall.
Leading all District 5 Ace of Clubbers is Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa., with 49.12, followed by Patricia Katz, who might be related but is listed as living in Pittsburgh. She has 43.07. Then it's W. (William? Wolfgang? Waldemar?) Tordella of Bemus Point with 41.24, Meg Klamp with 40.07; D. Pierce of Parkersburg, W. Va., 37.32; S. Ruskin of Pittsburgh, 35.38; Mike Silverman, 33.17; Arlene Port of Pittsburgh, 30.35; Gladys Martin of Hudson, Ohio, 29.76; Tom Koralewski, 29.07; and Liz Clark, 28.83.
Checking into the District 5 Mini McKenney race, the leader among Ruby Life Masters (no surprise) is Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, with 139.02. She's also first among all District 5 players.
Then it's Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh, 67.18 (12th); Barbara Greenspan of Beachwood, Ohio, 41.14 (41st); Monica Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 36.77 (54th) and our own Mike Silverman, 34.11 (64th). Then there's John Bacon of Shaker Heights, Ohio, 33.73 (66th). My 31.11 makes me seventh among the Rubies (last month I was fifth), 77th among everyone in District 5, down from 53rd last month. Fred Yellen's 27.83 makes him the No. 9 Ruby this month and 87th overall.
So who are the District 5 top dog runners-up? Mary Chilcote of Cleveland, 124.22; good old Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 122.88 (low for her); then some couples, or apparent couples – Don and Kathleen Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio, with 110.31 and 106.35, respectively; and the aforementioned Richard and Patricia Katz of Pittsburgh or thereabouts, with 97.64 and 90.69, respectively.
Any of us Unit 116 people register on the big national list? Let's see. Ruby Life Masters are led by Barry Nish of Little Neck, N.Y., with 57.17 and Gary Waldron of Laguna Beach, Calif., with 57 even. Next are Lorraine Siegel Atlanta, 51.97; Mohan Bali of Columbia, S.C., 51.59; and Robert Shearer of Diberville, Miss., 51.05.
Mike Silverman is 82nd. I'm 301st, between David Popper of Roslyn, L.I., who has 24.64; and Karen Yellin of Bethlehem, Pa., who has 24.60. We're the only two Buffalonians on the Top 500 list. It ends with a three-way tie at 21.03 points.
Unit 116 Mini-McKenney Ruby Life Masters nationwide? Not a chance. Here the leader is a New York City player, Gillian Miniter, with 247.35; followed by Sudhakar Divakaruni of Scottsdale, Ariz., with 202.24; Maya Alela of Teec Nos Pos, Ariz., with 170.44; Connie Queller of Hudson, Fla., with 165.47; and District 5's Sue Lan Ma with 139.02. The list ends at 37.65 points.
Biggest, baddest Ace of Clubs player in the nation once again is Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She has 105.93. Then it's two players from Atlanta, Mason Barge (99.09) and Bill Kulbersh (93.20), followed by Neil Silverman of Fort Lauderdale (89.07) and Kay Schulle of Purchase, NY (87.88). Ruby Life Master leader Barry Nish turns out to be tied for 61st. Last guy on this list, Sanford Becker of Chesterfield, Mo., has 35.04 points.
And now, drum roll, please. The leaders of the pack. The maximum Mini McKenney guys. And they really are all guys. Chris Compton of Dallas, 686.26; David Grainger of Etobicoke, Ont., 559.82; Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla., 551.41; Greg Hinze of San Antonio, 547.13; and Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., 540.21.
There are also some familiar names near the top. Sixth is David Sabourin of Ottawa, Ont., whom I've spotted at the Buffalo Regional. He's sixth with 527.82. Same with Shan Huang of Toronto, ninth with 485.27.

Apparently off to a slow start is the legendary Jeff Meckstroth, who's 46th with 234.48. Not far away is Buffalo native Joel Wooldridge, now hailing from Astoria, Queens, in 55th place with 223.13. And there's a Sally Meckstroth in 91st place with 182.58. Down in 163th is District 5 Ruby queen Sue Lan Ma. To get on this Top 500 list, you need at least 86.53 points.