Bridge Blog 1081: April Mop-Up

Time to check on how the planets revolve in the bridge universe. Time for that monthly review of the Master Point races on the ACBL website.

Yes, for me, April was treading rainwater – an improvement over miserable March, but just slightly. 12.35 points in club play, boosting my Ace of Clubs total to 42.05. Another 0.52 from the Buffalo Spring Sectional, bringing things up to 12.87 for the month and 43.35 overall.

In the Ace of Clubs race in Unit 116 (Buffalo only), I’ve regained the step I lost in March, back up to fourth among Ruby Life Masters (1,500 to 2,500 points) and up a notch to 19th from 20th among all players in the Unit. Modest, but moving in the right direction.

Amazingly, on the District 5 level, which includes Cleveland, Pittsburgh and points in between, I’ve improved my status among the second tier of leaders in the Rubies in Ace of Clubs, up from eighth to sixth. Also up in the overall standings from 52nd to 48th.

As for the Mini-McKenney, in Unit 116, my tournament deficiencies are hurting me. Down from sixth to eighth among the Rubies, down from 36th to 40th in the Unit.

On the District 5 level, it’s not so dire. Sure, I’m now 30th among the Rubies, down from 28th, but 180th overall for the second month in a row. (A far cry from February, however, when I was 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).

Out of nowhere (well, make that Florida) comes David Millward to claim the throne from last month’s leader, Linda Burroughsford. His 87.23 far eclipsed her.

Linda would have been eclipsed by David even if she had another 28.08-point month, like she had in March. Instead, she collected 10.78, giving her a total of 62.34.

Still, it was enough to keep her ahead of January’s leader, Martin Pieterse, who had a 20.71-point month in April to reach 60.68.  The two of them  continue fourth and sixth overall in the Unit. David Millward is second.

The rest of the Top 10: Me, 42.05 (19th); John Sinclair, 39.33 (21st); Dorothy May, 39.26 (22nd); Davis Heussler, down from fourth to seventh, 37.33 (25th overall); Gene Finton, another snowbird returned, 36.98 (26th); Ken Meier, 32.87 (32nd); and Fred Yellen, 32.38 (33rd).

Ace of Clubs. Unit 116. All players.

Continuing way ahead is Alan Greer, adding 38.40 points in April for a total of 131.51. David Millward slips into second with that 87.23, ahead of Nancy Wolstoncroft, who had a 25.07-point month to reach 80.14.

Linda Burroughford, with 62.34, passes Gay Simpson with 62.10. Now in sixth place is Martin Pieterse, 60.68; then John and Martha Welte, both 60.63; Mike Silverman, 54.53, and Chris Urbanek, 53.10. Barbara Libby is 11th, passing the half-century point with 51.22.

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

Gatlinburg. That’s the secret. Linda Burroughford and Davis Heussler went. Came back with 36 points. Now they’re way out in front. Linda’s up 79.02 at 167.23. Davis is up 69.75 at 153.96. They’re second and third overall among all Buffalo players.  

David Millward reappears from Florida in third place with 100.02 (11th overall). Ken Meier, another Gatlinburg go-getter, moves up from sixth to fourth with a 42.64-point month, reaching 73.98. He’s up from 34th to 15th overall in the unit.

Martin Pieterse drops from third to fifth with 63.80, but his good month is reflected by his move from 20th overall to 18th. Then it’s John Sinclair, 57.28 (still 24th overall); Fred Yellen, 53.02 (30th); moi, 43.35 (40th); Dorothy May, 40.71 (46th); and Gene Finton, 36.98 (49th).

Mini-McKenney. Unit 116. All players.

Glenn Milgrim’s big win in national competition in March gave him a big 72-point lead here, to which he added only 3.39 in April, reaching 174.56. Linda Burroughsford is suddenly on his heels with 167.23.

Davis Heussler passed a lot of others in the Top 10 with his 153.96. Then it’s Martha Welte, 151.61; Mike Ryan, 144.38; John Welte (who usually has the same total as Martha, or a little more since he plays the occasional club game without her), 134.86; and last month’s #3 guy, Alan Greer, 131.51, in eighth place. Rounding out the Top 10 are Chris Urbanek, 107.83, and Saleh Fetouh, 105.61. Only other player at the century mark is 11th place David Millward. Nancy Wolstoncroft is way back in 12th with 81.26.

Ace of Clubs. District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh). Ruby Life Masters. Buffalo players hold six of the Top 10 spots, headed by David Millward with 87.23. He’s third among all District 5 Rubies.

Then it’s Linda Burroughsford, 62.34 (seventh overall in the district); Martin Pieterse, 60.68 (ninth); and two outlyers – W. Tordella of Bemus Point, 52.62 (20th, down from seventh in March); and Judith Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 43.18 (45th, down from 41st).

I’m sixth among District Rubies with 42.05 (48th overall), followed by James Wheeler of Edinburg, Pa., with 40.52 (54th); John Sinclair, 39.33 (58th); Dorothy May, 39.26 (61st); and Marvin Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 38.03 (68th).

Ace of Clubs. District 5. All players.

Buffalonians hold eight of the Top 11 places, with two of us, John and Martha Welte, tied for 10th.

 Alan Greer still reigns with 131.51, followed by perennial Pittsburgh champ Reanette Frobouck, who has an even 101 after a 34.04-point month.

David Millward holds third with 87.23, followed by Nancy Wolstoncroft, 80.14; D. Pierce of Parkersburg, W.Va., falling back to fifth with 79.98; Allen Selling of Erie, Pa., 74.31; Linda Burroughsford, 62.34; Gay Simpson, down from fifth to eighth with 62.10; Martin Pieterse, 60.68; and the Weltes, both 60.63.

Mini-McKenney. District 5. Ruby Life Masters.

Linda Burroughsford and Davis Heussler still are one-two – Linda with 167.23; Davis with 153.96. They’ve also moved up among all District 5 players. Linda’s up to 12th from 16th and Davis advances to 15th from 24th. David Millward is third (39th overall) and the only other Ruby over the century mark with his 100.02.

The rest of the Top 10: Doug Snyder of Shaker Heights, Ohio, 89.65 (46th overall); James Fox of Canonsburg, Pa., 81.56 (57th overall); Ken Meier, 73.98 (72nd); Judith Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 71.45 (76th); Monica Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 67.17 (84th); Martin Pieterese, 63.80 (95th); Marvin Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 62.97 (97th).  Next Unit 116 player on the list is John Sinclair in 17th place with his 57.28.

Mini-McKenney. District 5. All players.

Perennial leader Sue Lan Ma was fourth last month. Now she’s second, thanks to an 86.73-point month. Here’s the Top 10:

Bernie Greenspan of Beachwood, Ohio, with a 65.34-point month to reach 292.31. Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, 286.32. Watch out, Bernie! Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., 246.15; Fleur Howard, up from 11th to fifth with 222.75; Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 222.29; Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh, 207.65; Kenneth Kranyak of Parma, Ohio, 190.89; Fred Schenker of Pittsburgh, 186.80; and Kathleen Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio. 179.06.

No Unit 116 people in the Top 10, but five in the next 10 – Glenn Milgrim is 11th, Linda Burroughford is 12th, Davis Heussler is 15th, Martha Welte is 16th and Mike Ryan is 17th. 

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

Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., reclaims first place from Jim Loffree of Naples, Fla., who debuted on the Top 10 in first place a month ago. Pearly had a 56.39-point month to hit 169.85. Loffree managed only 29.92 to wind up with 144.02.

Then it’s Mason Barge of Atlanta, up from sixth to third with 121.77 with a 44.54-point month, squeezing past Jay Lucas of Little Rock, Ark., with 121.37.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Larry Anfinson of Waterloo, Iowa, 116.44, tenth a month ago; Mark Haberman of Boca Raton, Fla., 102.75; Christine Converse of Highland Beach, Fla., 102.47; Carole Maeder of Bonita Springs, Fla., 101.83; Bruce Ladin of Harwood Heights, Ill., 100.19; and Aivars Lapins of Cambria, Calif., 97.43.

Unit 116 returnee David Millward is 21st. Linda Burroughsford, after shooting up to 73rd last month, fell back to 115th. Martin Pieterse is up from 241st to 128th. And that’s all for us Buffalo Rubies. The list cuts off at 43.72.

Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. Top 500 players.

January leader Barbara Sartorius of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., has a 62.19-point month to reach 198.47 and displace the man who displaced her – Neil Silverman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who had just 32.55 in April and ended with 181.10.

After that, it’s Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., up from tenth to third with 169.85; Bill Kulbersh of Atlanta, right behind with 169.31; Francine Feldman of Boca Raton, Fla., 167.08; Irva Neyhart of Corvallis, Ore., 166.83; En Xie of St. Louis, 162.42; Martin Robins of Delray Beach, Fla., 157.51; Michael Dalton of Palm Coast, Fla., 155.52; and Shiv Arora of Boca Raton, 152.83.

Unit 116 and District 5 leader Alan Greer is 30th, up from 49th. David Millward is 263rd and Nancy Wolstoncroft returns in 364th place. The list cuts off at 73.92.

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

A month ago, two players had reached the double-century mark. Now it’s 15.

Thomas Rush of Houston had a 101.89-point month and continues on top with 309.24. Meanwhile, January leader Christopher Smith rebounds from ninth place with an 82.12-point month to reach 269.49.

Next are Arjun Dhir of Johns Creek, Ga., up from eighth to third with 258.87; Ruby Life Master leader Russ Pearly, 255.17; Silas Wasserstrom of Washington, D.C., 252.36; Amy Casanova of Portland, Ore., 248.66; Harrison Luba of Lynnfield, Mass., with 241.98; Jay Lucas of Little Rock, Ark., 240.34; Dolores Aquino of Houston, 238.55; and Murali Nair of Phoenix, 227.48.

Unit 116’s Linda Burroughsford jumps 73rd to 29th with her 167.23. Davis Heussler ascends from 110th to 43rd with his 153.96. David Millward places 179th with 100.02.  The list stops at 72.34.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. Top 500 players.

Another 200-plus-point month – 230.47, to be exact, keeps Curtis Cheek of Las Vegas in the top spot he claimed a month ago. Now he has 819.17 points.

No slouch either is Mark Itabashi of Murieta, Calif., with 233.47 to jump from fifth to second place with 795.14.

Returning to the Top 10 and no stranger to it is third-place Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla., with 768.34. Another familiar face is fourth – Jeff Meckstroth of Clearwater Beach, Fla., with 759.65 after a 234.20-point month.

Alex Hudson of Raleigh, N.C., is fifth with 747.54, followed by Shan Huang of Melbourne, Fla., 727.88; Kevin Bathurst of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., 694.85; Jacob Morgan of Madison, Wis., 679.42; Joe Grue of New York City, 671.77; and Ron Smith of Chicago, down from second to tenth with 653.93.

District 5 leader Bernie Greenspan is 121st. Sue Lan Ma is 143rd. Unit 116 leader Glenn Milgrim isn’t here this month.

Buffalo native Joel Wooldridge, who now plays out of Astoria, Queens, is up from 40th place to 39th with 435.38, after an 88.49-point month. The list stops at 171.55.