Bridge Blog 1021: March Made Whole

     Looks like the folks at ACBL HQ came back from the weekend and straightened out the Master Point Race listings. So here we go.

     Unit 116 (Buffalo only), Ace of Clubs (club play only), Ruby Life Masters (players with 1,500 to 2,500 points). In January, I was first. In February, I slipped to fifth. Now I'm back on top by a hair, the hair that race car drivers call an RCH. Here are the top 10:

     Me, 32.74, up from fifth in this division, and sixth overall in the unit, up from 13th.

     Allen Beroza, 32.35, still second, down one to eighth in the unit, and tied with Mike Silverman, up from third last month and up from tenth in the unit.

     Martin Pieterse, 29.61, is still fourth, but down one in the unit to 13th.

     Fred Yellen, sixth last month, climbs into fifth with 26.36, and 18th in the unit. Ken Meier, last month's leader, slips to sixth with 26.26, and is down from sixth in the unit to 19th.

     Then comes Dorothy May with 25.95, up from eighth to seventh, up from 22nd in the unit to 20th. She passed Gene Finton, with 23.07 (27th). Last month's tenth-place tie rounds out the Top Ten – Davis Heussler with 17.11 (42nd) and Elaine Kurasiewicz with 15.90 (46th).

     Unit 116, Ace of Clubs overall. John Ziemer maintains his commanding lead with 61.33. Barbara Libby, third last month, bounces to second place with 38.38. Bud Seidenberg, 12th last month, jumps to third with 35.97. Jay Levy continues in fourth with 35.93. Judi Marshall, with 33.92, slips from second to fifth.

     Then it’s Jim Easton, up from eighth place, 33.49; me, 32.74; the tie at 32.35 between Allen Beroza and Mike Silverman; and another tie in tenth place with John and Martha Welte, 31.49.

     Moving on to the Mini-McKenney races, which count all points earned everywhere, I have 46.28 points, up 13.56 from February. That also boosts me from third to second among Ruby Life Masters in Unit 116.

     Continuing way out in front is Davis Heussler, adding another 20 points. He now tops the century mark with 104.44. He's second among all Unit 116 players. I'm 19th overall, up from 21st.

     Then it's Ken Meier, slipping from second to third with 44.24 (down from 13th to 20th overall); Allen Beroza, 33.24 (34th); Fred Yellen, 32.69 (35th); Mike Silverman, 32.35 (36th); Martin Pieterse, 30.98 (38th); Elaine Kurasiewicz, 30.35 (39th); and Dorothy May, 25.95 (43rd).  

     The new leader among all players in Unit 116 is Saleh Fetouh, with 104.73, passing Davis Heussler's 104.44. Linda Burroughsford holds third with 81.34, then it's couples. Shakeel Ahman and Manju Ceylony are tied for fourth with 78.94, and John and Martha Welte are tied for sixth with 78.85. Rounding out the top ten are John Ziemer, 76.83, down from fourth to eighth; Sandi England, 75.50, down from third to ninth; and David Hemmer, 62.60.

     Now let’s widen our horizons.

     District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh) Ace of Clubs, Ruby Life Masters. Here I’ve returned from ninth place in February back to third place, which is where I stood in January.

     Leader continues to be Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., with 47.79. He also maintains himself in eighth place among all players in the district. Susan Konig of Bridgeville, Pa., leaps into second place with 41.28 (11th in the district). Then it’s three Buffalonians – me, 32.74 (28th), and the Allen Beroza-Mike Silverman tie at 32.35 (30th).

     Next are Garnet Depner of Jeannette, Pa., 32.34 (32nd); Pauline Sostarich of Hermitage, Pa., 31.36 (38th); Unit 116's Martin Pieterse, 29.61 (43rd); John Ferry of North Parkersburg, W. Va., 27.68 (55th); and Barbara Schidlowski of Kent, Ohio, 26.43 (63rd). Buffalonian Fred Yellen is 11th, 64th in the district, with 26.36; and Ken Meier is tied for 12th, 65th in the district, with 26.26.

     Overall Ace of Clubbers in District 5 look like this: Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa., still on top, now with 68.58. Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh advances from fourth to second with 64.07. Unit 116’s John Ziemer slips one notch to third with 61.33, while Patricia Katz of Pittsburgh also slips one rung to fourth with 55.50.

     Next are those single initial people – D. Pierce of Parkersburg, W. Va., with 55.20; and W. Tordella of Bemus Point with 52.20. Then come a bunch of Pennsylvanians – Arlene Port of Pittsburgh, 48.80; Philip Goulding of Wexford, 47.79; and Barbara Belardi and S. Ruskin, both of Pittsburgh, with 46.98 and 46.35, respectively. 

     Only other Unit 116 player in the Top 20 is Barbara Libby, 18th with 38.38. There's a gang of us, however, between 21st and 30th.   

     Now for the District 5 Mini-McKenney, Ruby Life Masters. Here the leader continues to be our own David Heussler with 104.44. However, he’s dropped from eighth to tenth among all players in the district.

     The other leaders include: Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., 93.38 (up from 19th to 13th overall); Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh, 56.82 (41st); Barbara Greenspan of Beachwood, Ohio, 55.54 (down from 23rd to 44th); Monica Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 51.87 (down from 25th to 55th); Leroy Hackenburg II of Pittsburgh, 51.01 (falling 46th to 60th); Susan Konig of Bridgeville, Pa., 50.33 (63rd); Jack Hawthorne of Valencia, Pa., 48.17 (69th); Ami Elis of Pittsburgh, 47,84 (71st); Wayne Heritage of North Olmsted, Ohio, 46.67 (down from 32nd to 74th); then me in 11th place with 46.28, down from eighth. Overall, I'm also down from 74th to 76th. Ken Meier is 12th with 44.24 and 83rd among all District 5 players.

     Mini-McKenney leader among all District 5 players continues to be my jolly acquaintance Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, now with 233.99.           Then it’s Kathleen and Don Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio, second and fourth with 172 even and 140.27, respectively. Between them is Bernie Greenspan of Beechwood, Ohio, with 143.46.

     Fifth place belongs to Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 138.02; followed by Robert and Stephanie Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, 122.53 and 106.17, respectively; with Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa., between them with 112.63.

     This time Unit 116 holds the last two spots in the Top 10 – Saleh Fetouh with 104.73 and Davis Heussler, 104.44. That's the end of players in triple digits.

     Ace of Clubs, Ruby Life Masters, nationwide.

     Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., adds 32 points for the month and jumps from fourth to first with 91.80. Michael Rosen of Freehold, N.J., adds 35 and jumps from eighth to second with 85.30. Paul Hassett, also of the Villages, returns to third place with 80.12.

     After that, it's Bruce Ladin of Harwood Heights, Ill., with 76.99; David Mors of New Minas, Nova Scotia, with 76.08; Anna Maxcine Thacker of Palm Coast, Fla., with 75.40; Michael Boreson of Kalispell, Mont., with 74.56; Michael Fishman of Great Neck, N.Y., with 72.96; and Brian Breckenridge of Corvallis, Ore., with 69.95.

     Unit 116 entries here are myself, tied for 444th place with Robert Rose of Phoenix, Ariz.; and Mike Silverman and Allen Beroza, tied with each other for 469th. The list cuts off at 31.83.

     Ace of Clubs, all players, nationwide. Top three remain the same. Bill Kulbersh of Atlanta continues in the lead, virtually doubling his point total in March to 200.20. Maintaining their runner-up spots are Robert Epstein, also of Atlanta, with 134.61, and Roberta Trayman of Naples, Fla., with 133.01.

     Then it's Irva Neyhart of Corvallis, Ore., 129.59; Jack Snyder of Naperville, Ill., 123.34; En Xie of St. Louis, 122.77; Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale, 121.67; Pierre Daigneault of Montreal, 118.51; Sheila Gabay of Newton, Mass., 117.23; and Harry Kaufmann of North Redington Beach, Fla., with 116.05; fractionally ahead of Diane and Edgar Hurt Jr. of Laguna Woods, Calif., tied for 11th with 116.03.

     Unit 116’s John Ziemer is 336th, down from 188th. This list of 500 names cuts off at 55.15.

     Onward to Mini-McKenney, Ruby Life Masters, nationwide.

     Still way out in front is Robert L. McClendon of Ponte Vedra, Fla., with 570.09. Mary Ose of Sacramento, Calif, advances from fourth to second place with 243.70. Kevin Castner of Kentfield, Calif., breaks into the Top Ten in third place with 225.33. Sitting fourth, down from second, is someone we’ve played against, Joel Wooldridge’s sometimes partner Junko Hemus of Windermere, Fla., with 224.97.

     Then it’s Alex Khrakovsky of Columbus, Ohio, 212.51; Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., 193.80; Sherry Spalding Fardie of Port Orange, Fla., 190.77; Ann Buchholz of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., 177.95; Karen Hoffner of Galloway, N.J., 173.16; and Scott Nason of Dallas, 171.79;

Unit 116’s Davis Heussler, who was 41st last month, is now 51st with his 104.44. The list ends at 53.85. My 46.28 doesn't cut it.

     And now for the really heavy hitters, the Mini-McKenney leaders overall.

     Last month’s top dog, Joe Grue of New York City, has broken into four figures. He has 1,134.43. Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., moves from third to second with 960.19. Then January leader Geoff Hampson of Las Vegas rebounds from tenth to third with 864.61.

     He pushes last month's No. 2, Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla., back to fourth with 862.38. Then it's Brad Moss of Denver, up to fifth place from ninth with 846.10; John Hurd of New York City, 728.55; Alex Hudson of Raleigh, N.C., 597.05; Robert L. McClendon of Ponte Vedra, Fla., 570.09; Oren Kriegel of Chicago, 561.27; and Justin Lall of Charlotte, N.C., 556.52.

     Familiar names: Former Buffalonian Joel Wooldridge slips from 28th to 30th with 431.03. District 5 leader Sue Lan Ma is down from 77th to 131st with her 233.99. No Unit 116 people here. This list cuts off at 135.56.