Bridge Blog 1078: The Long and Short of February (finally)

I’m way overdue to review my place in the world as seen in the Master Point races on the ACBL website. Maybe that’s because, personally, it was not a big month. Only 10.89 points, all of them club points. Total for the year is 20.70 Ace of Clubs (club play only) and 21.48 Mini-McKenney (all points earned everywhere.)

As it turns out, it was not a big month for anyone locally. Despite my mediocre month, I’ve moved up.

In the Ace of Clubs race, I’ve advanced from fifth to third place among Ruby Life Masters (1,500 to 2,500 points) in Unit 116 (Buffalo only) and inched from 18th to 17th among all players in the Unit.

On the District 5 level, which includes Cleveland, Pittsburgh and points in between, I’m eighth among Rubies in the Ace of Clubs, 46th overall. A month ago, I was 12th among Rubies and 47th overall.

As for the Mini-McKenney, in Unit 116, I’m sixth among the Rubies in Unit 116 with 21.48 and 33rd in the Unit. In January, I was eighth and 46th.

On the District 5 level, at the end of January, I was 43rd among the Rubies and 208th overall. February made me 21st among the Rubies and 158th overall.

Here are the leaderboards:

Ace of Clubs (club play only). Unit 116 (Buffalo only). Ruby Life Masters (1,500 to 2,500 points).

In a month when not a lot of points were to be had, Linda Burroughsford accumulated 16.10 of them and leaped from seventh to first with 23.48 points. She bumped January’s leader, Martin Pieterse, to second with 21.57. They’re 12th and 15th overall in the Unit.

I’m third with 20.70 and 17th overall, having overtaken Dorothy May, 20.45 (18th); Florida snowbird Gene Finton, 17.98 (22nd) and Fred Yellen, 17.65 (23rd).   

In seventh place, it’s another snowbird, Pinky Regan, who’s gotten 16.10 points from Vero Beach, Fla. (27th overall); then Davis Heussler, making a Top 10 debut with 13.67 (39th); John Sinclair, 13.13 (43rd); and Art Matthies, 11.62 (50th). Also in double digits, Ken Meier, in 11th place with 10.13 points (60th overall).  

Ace of Clubs. Unit 116. All players.

Continuing on top is Alan Greer, adding 23.56 points in February for a total of 58.56. Nancy Wolstoncroft advances from fourth to second, thanks to a 17.38-point month that brought her to 37.36.

She’s slipped ahead of Gay Simpson, who has 35.75. She’s followed by Sharon Benz, 27.51; Barbara Libby, 27.38; Bill Boardman, 25.49; Bud Seidenberg, 25.04; John Ziemer, 25.02; Chris Urbanek, 24.07; and John and Martha Welte, tied for tenth with 23.97.

Mini-McKenney (all points earned everywhere). Unit 116. Ruby Life Masters.

Linda Burroughsford is on top here, too, adding 17.43 points to reach 51.78. She skips ahead of January’s leader, her frequent partner Davis Heussler, who added 10.96 for a total of 47.17. They’re fifth and sixth overall among all Buffalo players.  

It also continues to be a big step down, point-wise, to third place, which now is occupied by Fred Yellen with 25.90 after a 7.01-point month. He’s slipped from 17th overall in the Unit to 22nd. He displaced Martin Peterese, who has 23.91 and is 25th overall.

Then it’s John Sinclair, 22.20 (30th); moi, 21.48 (33rd); Dorothy May, 20.45 (36th); Ken Meier, 19.24 (40th); and the two snowbirds, Gene Finton, 17.98 (43rd); and Pinky Regan, 17.25 (48th).  

Mini-McKenney. Unit 116. All players.

Continuing on top with a 17.15-point month is Chris Urbanek with 61.41. Alan Greer jumps from seventh to second with 58.56. Then it’s John and Martha Welte, tied for third with 54.57; Linda Burroughsford, up from eighth to fifth with 51.78; Davis Heussler, down from fifth to sixth with 47.17; Sharon Benz, 44.70; Mike Ryan, 44.16; Saleh Fetouh, 43.25; and Jay Levy, 42.70.

Ace of Clubs. District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh). Ruby Life Masters. Usually Buffalo dominates here. Not this month. Here are the leaders:

Still first is W. Tordella of Bemus Point, 30.22, (and still sixth among all District 5 players). Judith Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, advances from fifth to second (and 25th to 23rd overall) with 24.39.

Linda Burroughsford, who wasn’t among the Top 10 a month ago, is third with 23.48 and 27th overall. Fourth now and tenth a month ago is Garnet Depner of Jeannette, Pa., with 21.70, though he slipped a notch, from 36th to 37th, overall.

Last month’s runner-up, Buffalo’s Martin Pieterse, now is fifth with 21.57. He’s dropped from ninth to 39th overall. Up from seventh to sixth is William Feeney of Latrobe, Pa., with 21.11 (down from 29th to 40th overall).

I’m up from 12th to eighth with 20.70 (and up from 47th to 46th overall). Then it’s the fourth Buffalo player in the Top 10 – Dorothy May with 20.25, down from sixth to ninth in the Rubies and down from 21st to 49th overall. Rounding out the list is Susan Dillon of Pittsburgh with 20.19 (51st overall).

Ace of Clubs. District 5. All players.

Alan Greer on top again with 58.56, but then the list has a big shakeup. Last month’s runner-up, Patricia Katz of Pittsburgh, has dropped to 19th place. In her stead is perennial Pittsburgh champ Reanette Frobouck with 47.86.

Buffalo’s Nancy Wolstoncroft moves from eighth to third place with 37.36 (while last month’s third place holder, Daniel Putnam of Berkeley Springs, W.Va. drops to eighth). Another Buffalonian, Gay Simpson, maintains fourth with 35.75.

The rest of the Top Ten: D. Pierce of Parkersburg, W.Va., 32.49; W. Tordella of Bemus Point, 30.22; Lynn Rafferty of Columbiana, Ohio, 30.12; the aforementioned Daniel Putnam, 28.63; and a pair of Pittsburghers, James Gump with 28.16 and Barbara Belardi with 27.96. Buffalonians Sharon Benz and Barbara Libby are 11th and 12th with 27.51 and 27.38, respectively.

Mini-McKenney. District 5. Ruby Life Masters.

Davis Heussler and Linda Burroughsford swap places for the lead on this list. Linda now has 51.78, while Davis has 47.17. They’ve slipped among all District 5 players, though. Linda’s down from 25th to 28th and Davis falls from 21st to 33rd.

Debuting in the Top 10 in third place is Annemarie Gordon of Sewickley, Pa., with 43.82 (she’s 40th overall).  

The rest of the Top 10: Philip MacFarlane of Cleveland, 39.11 (35th to 51st); Judith and Martin Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 38.56 and 35 even (53rd and 66th); another Top 10 debut from Monica Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio with 32.30 (75th); that W. Tordella guy from Bemus Point, 30.94 (80th); Elena Steingraf of North Canton, Ohio, slipping from sixth to ninth with 27.78 (99th); and Buffalo’s Fred Yellen in tenth place with 25.90 (115th overall).

Next Unit 116 player on the list is Martin Pieterse in 15th place with his 23.91 points, which makes him 129th overall. I’m 21st, up from 43rd, and 158th overall, up from 208th.

Mini-McKenney. District 5. All players.

Perennial leader Sue Lan Ma wasn’t on top in January. She was seventh. In February, however, she reclaimed her throne, thanks to a 112.16-point month. Here’s the Top 10:

Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, 171.93; Reanette Frobouck and Craig Biddle, both of Pittsburgh, 154.92 and 119.11, respectively; Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., 108.75; January’s leader Kenneth Kranyak of Parma, Ohio, 105.79; Phillip Becker of Beachwood, Ohio, 97.17; Fred Schenker of Pittsburgh, 89.26; Fleur Howard of Gates Mills, Ohio, 87.20; Kathleen Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio, 81.51; and Frank Cymerman of Pittsburgh, 79.91. First Unit 116 player to appear on this list is Chris Urbanek, who’s 21st with her 61.41. Alan Greer is 23rd with 58.56, followed by John and Martha Welte, tied for 24th with 54.57.

Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. Top 500 Ruby Life Masters.

Russ Pearly of the Villages, Fla., continues on top with 76.97. Then, up from fifth to second is Aivars Lapins from Cambria, Calif., with 66.61; Larry Anfinson of Waterloo, Iowa, 64.47; Sydelle Shamah of Miami, 59.80; Jay Lucas of Little Rock, Ark., 57.46; last month’s No. 2, Carole Maeder of Bonita Springs, Fla., 56.83; Michael Rosen of Freehold, N.J., 56.24; Louis Vanos of Ocean Springs, Miss., 53.13; Janet Matthews of The Villages, Fla., 51.53; and Bob Levine of Dana Point, Calif., 51.51.

Among Unit 116 players, Linda Burroughsford is the only representative. She’s tied for 409th. The list cuts off at 22.23.

Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. Top 500 players.

Barbara Sartorius of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., led the pack in January with 75.96. In February, she only added 23.21, reaching 99.17, and fell to second place. Last month’s eighth-place player, Neil Silverman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., now is on top with 110.05.

After that, it’s Sheila Gabay of Newton, Mass., 97.97; Martin Robins of Delray Beach, Fla., 94.61; Barbara Saltsman of Montreal, 90.50; Jack Borenstein of Dallas, 90.37; Robert Epstein of Atlanta, 84.90; Marion Gebhardt of Richardson, Texas, 83.89; Sandy McCay of Naples, Fla, 80 even; and Joe Degaetano of Delray Beach, Fla., 79.59. Ruby Life Master leader Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., is 13th.        Unit 116 and District 5 leader Alan Greer is 82nd, up from 85th, and he’s the only Buffalo representative. The list cuts off at 38.22.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. Top 500 Ruby Life Masters.

A month ago, there was only one player here in triple digits. Now there are 22.

Newton Brightwell of Osprey, Fla., catapults to the top with 162.06, outpacing last month’s leader, Christopher Smith of Vero Beach, Fla., who added only 38.83 to reach 158.56.

Then it’s Marilyn Brightwell of Osprey, ninth a month ago, with 155.27, up 89.57 points. She’s followed by Dolores Aquino of Houston, 147.24; Silas Wasserman of Washington, D.C., 147.09; Jerry Barrett of Austin, Texas, 143.11; Thomas Rush of Houston, 139.72; Francesca Stedman of Santa Fe, N.M., 138.52; Amy Casanova of Portland, Ore., 134.47; and Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., 123.23.

Unit 116’s Linda Burroughsford slips from 131st to 202nd with her 51.78. Davis Heussler plummets from 113th to 267th with his 47.17.  The list stops at 37.66.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. Top 500 players.

Ron Smith of Chicago moves from second to first with a 208.50-point month, reaching 551.80. Then it’s Kevin Bathurst of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., 433.66; Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla., 419.72; and January’s leader, Jacob Morgan of Madison, Wis., 410.81.

Then it’s Alex Hudson of Raleigh, N.C., 403.32; Billy Miller and Curtis Cheek, both of Las Vegas, with 397.38 and 387.60, respectively; Shan Huang of Melbourne, Fla., 385.12; Joe Grue of New York City, 380.63; and Daniel Korbel of Las Vegas, 368.25.

Last year’s No. 2 player, Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., has climbed from 30th to 15th, reaching 315.27 with a 166.98-point month.

The legendary Jeff Meckstroth of Clearwater Beach, Fla., advances 63rd to 37th with a 127.78-point month, reaching 243.77.  

District 5 leader Sue Lan Ma is 97th. After a 17-point month, Buffalo native Joel Wooldridge, who now plays out of Astoria, Queens, is down from 107th to 260th with 113.73. The list stops at 86.95.

Bridge Blog 1077: Promises, promises

I was so very resolute when 2018 began. No games under 40%. That warranty lasted for about as long as a Takata airbag. By the time the year was over, I visited the 30s some three dozen times.

For 2019, I made no such guarantee. Good thing I didn’t say under 30%, either. First game of the year came in at 29.58%, my first sub-30 result since 2016. It was quickly followed by a 31.60%.

That ended the visits to the lower extremities in January. February, however, was a basement blow-out. Four in the space of seven games mid-month, plus a lowball 30.36% last Tuesday. Sprinkled in between were a few spikes of success – notably the 60.42% last Monday with Bill Boardman in the ACBL Interclub game and a year-to-date peak of 65.58% a week earlier with June Feuerstein.

None of those translate into great gobs of master points, though, since this was not a month of constant extra-point joy at the Airport Bridge Club. Looks like the total for February is going to be just short of 10.