Bridge Blog 1098: Reheating July (fully)

This time I won't be a laggard when it comes to checking into the ACBL master point races. Plus I have something to look forward to, thanks to a strong few games at the end of July. Let’s see if they had a salutary effect.

My Ace of Clubs total now stands at 82.83, up 17.13 points since June. And the Mini-McKenney total, all points earned everywhere, has reached 90.02, also up 17.13. Yes, all my July points are club points. So how does that stack up against everyone else? 

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

Despite my good work, I’ve slipped from fourth to fifth place. Fred Yellen had a 36.71-point month. Meanwhile, Martin Pieterse, who took first place in June, has widened his lead over David Millward. Here’s the list:

Martin Pieterse, 119.03 (still #3 overall among all players in Unit 116); David Millward, 111.93 (still #4 overall); Linda Burroughsford, 109.65 (up to #5 overall from #7); Fred Yellen, 95.34 (up to #11 overall from #23); moi, 82.83 (up to #18 overall from #20); Ken Meier moving from seventh to sixth with 81.75 (#19 overall); Davis Heussler dropping to seventh from fifth with 70.64 (#26); Gene Finton, still eighth with 67.97 (#28); John Sinclair, 66.10 (#30); and Dorothy May, 62.81 (#33).

Ace of Clubs. Unit 116. All players.

Alan Greer has a 51.74-point month. He now stands at 259.89. Then it’s Nancy Wolstoncroft with a 32.54-point month to reach 152.35. After that, it’s Martin Pieterse, 119.03; David Millward, 111.93; Linda Burroughsford, 109.65; John Welte, 107.28; Gay Simpson, 106.32; Mike Silverman, 105.58; Bud Seidenberg, 101.68; and John Ziemer, 99.68.

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

Linda Burroughsford and Davis Heussler now have surpassed the triple-century mark. After a 76.58-point month, Linda’s reign continues with 327.08. She also remains first in the entire unit. Davis, who had an 89.85-point month, has 319.47 and has returned to second place overall in the unit.

The rest of the top 10 remains pretty much in the places they occupied a month ago: Ken Meier, 157.36 (still #13 overall); Martin Pieterse, 131.79 (#18, down from #15); David Millward, 124.72 (#21, down from #16); Fred Yellen, 124.37 (#22, up from #24); John Sinclair, 103.21 (#27, up from #34); moi, 90.02 (#33, up from #35); Gene Finton, 76.86 (#43, down from #38) and Art Matthies, 71.15 (#47) displacing Dorothy May, 70.52 (#48) in tenth place.

Mini-McKenney. Unit 116. All players.

Same players in the Top 10, but a little jockeying for places. Still on top is Linda Burroughsford with 327.08. David Heussler regains second with 319.47, vaulting past Alan Greer, 286.36.

Holding steady are John Welte, 280.22; Martha Welte, 266.46; and Mike Ryan, 251.53. Then Glenn Milgrim advances one rung to seventh with 234.17. Saleh Fetouh climbs to eighth from tenth with 211.45; John Ziemer slides from seventh to ninth with 194.35; and Chris Urbanek slips from ninth to tenth with 169.90.

Ace of Clubs. District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh). Ruby Life Masters. Five Buffalo players lead the list, with seven of us in the Top 10 and 10 in the Top 20.

Top five are Martin Pieterse, 119.03 (still #5 among all players in the district); David Millward, 111.93 (down to #9 from #6); and Linda Burroughford, 109.65 (up to #10 from #13).

Fred Yellen moves up from 12th to fourth with 95.34 (up to #23 from #64 overall). I stay in fifth with my 82.83 (#42 overall, up from #46).

I just edge out Judith Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, who returns from fourth place to sixth place with 82.62 (down to #43 from #32 overall).

Then Ken Meier, up from 13th to seventh with 81.75 (and #45 overall, up from #68); Kenneth Eichler of Murrysville, Pa., 63.80 (#48); James Wheeler of Edinburg, Pa., 75.91 (#57, up from #59) and slipping from eighth to tenth is Davis Heussler, 70.64 (#68, down from #50).

Ace of Clubs. District 5. All players.

Buffalonians hold eight of the Top 15 places, led by Alan Greer with 259.89. He’s followed by perennial Pittsburgh champ Reanette Frobouck, 171.41; Nancy Wolstoncroft, 152.35; Arlene Port of Pittsburgh, 120.07; Martin Pieterse, 119.03; Constance Hoechstetter of Moon Township, Pa., 116.85; Kenneth Bergman of Wexford, Pa., 116.69; Allen Selling of Erie, Pa., 114.02; David Millward, 111.93; and Linda Burroughsford, 109.85.

Then it’s Stephanie and Robert Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, 109.08 and 108.50, respectively; John Welte, 107.28; Gay Simpson, 106.32; and Mike Silverman, 105.58.

Mini-McKenney. District 5. Ruby Life Masters.

Linda Burroughsford and Davis Heussler continue one-two – Linda with 327.08; Davis with 319.47. And they moved up slightly among all District 5 players. Linda improved to #13 from #14. Davis went to #14 from #16.

The others on the leaderboard trail far behind: Robert Zimmerman of Pittsburgh, 174.75 (#38); James Fox of Canonsburg, Pa., 167.98 (#44); Ken Meier, 157.36 (#52, up from #60); Doug Snyder of Shaker Heights, Ohio, 148.90 (#59); Judith Shapiro of Akron, Ohio, 139.06 (#65); Martin Pieterse, 131.79 (down to #77 from #72); David Millward, 124.72 (#83, down from #73) and Fred Yellen, 124.37 (#84). Where am I with my 90.02? #20 among the Rubies and #149 among all players in the district.

Mini-McKenney. District 5. All players.

Perennial leader Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, widens her lead over another Ohioan, Bernie Greenspan of Beachwood. Here’s the Top 10:

Sue Lan Ma, 531.59; Bernie Greenspan, 450.94;  Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., up to third from fifth with a 105.15-point month for 432.99; Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh, 368.04; Phillip Becker of Beachwood, Ohio, 367.60; Fred Schenker of Pittsburgh, 360.92; Kenneth Kranyak of Parma, Ohio, 353.74; Kathleen Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio, 340.69; Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 334.70; and Stephanie and Robert Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, 334.21 and 333.63, respectively. Seven Buffalonians occupy places between #13 and #21. 
And finally, here on Aug. 18, the national leaders:  

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

Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., remains on top with 245.38, improved only 10.80 in July, while last month’s third place player, Jay Lucas of Little Rock, Ark., had a nearly 60-point month and moves up to second with 242.68.

Lucas displaces Mason Barge of Atlanta, now third with 214.79. Right behind him, but staying in fourth, is Jim Loffree of Naples, Fla., leader in May, second in June, with 214.38. Despite a 40-point month, Sidney Pertuz of Dallas remains fifth with 165.72.

The rest of the Top 10: Bruce Ladin of Harwood Heights, Ill., 184.70; Christopher Smith of Vero Beach, Fla., 182.46; Jo England of Dallas, new to the Top 10 with179.45; Eileen Boal of Albany, Ore., 178.77; and Christine Converse of Highland Beach, Fla., 173.24.

More shuffling in the bottom half of the Top 10. Mark Haberman of Boca Raton, Fla., sixth a month ago, is now #10.

Unit 116 leader Martin Pieterse, #69 a month ago, is now #73 with 119.03. David Millward is #100 with 111.93, down from #72 a month ago. Linda Burroughford advances to #116 from #146 with 109.65. Fred Yellen debuts at #219. I’m #392, up from #477, with 82.83. And Ken Meier arrives at #417 with his 81.75. The list stops at 77.11.

Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. Top 500 players.

Another big month for Bill Kulbersh of Atlanta! 96.14 club points. 406.67 total. He must play morning, noon and night.

April leader Neil Silverman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who had an 82.38 point month in June, manages only 47.30. With 354.08 now, he’s still second.

April-May Barbara Sartorius of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., third last month, drops to fifth with 297.37, after a mere 20.93-point month. Moving ahead are En Xie of St. Louis with 309.15 (a 44.87-point month) and Francine Feldman of Boca Raton, Fla., with 307.76 (a 70.01-point month).

After that, Harry Kaufmann of North Redington Beach, Fla., debuts in the Top 10 with 293.66. Then it’s Shiv Arora of Boca Raton, 290.48; David Hudson of The Villages, Fla., 283.72; Shiv Arora of Boca Raton, 239.48; Jack Borenstein of Dallas, 282.08; and Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale, 276.31. Ruby leader Russ Pearly, #10 last month, plunges to #23 with 245.38.

He’s behind Unit 116 and District 5 leader Alan Greer, who’s #17 with 259.89, up from #19. Nancy Wolstoncroft moves up nearly 100 places to #287, from #385, with here 152.35. And that’s it for Buffalonians. The list cuts off at 131.79.

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

A month ago, nobody had topped 400 points. Now two players have reached the half-century mark.

One of them is last month’s leader, Thomas Rush of Houston, who had a 133.90-point month to reach 522.62. The other is Jay Lucas of Little Rock, Ark., with 514.48 after a 163.47-point month.

Displaced to third is Harrison Luba of Lynnfield, Mass., with 499.05 (a 141.22-point month). 357.83. Dolores Aquino of Houston slips to fourth with 421.25 (a 66.19-point month).

Then it’s Christopher Smith of Vero Beach, Fla., 405.65; Amy Casanova of Portland, Ore., 397.56; Murali Nair of Phoenix, 379.51; Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., 374.29; Bill Cook of Louisville, Ky., 359.48; and Samuel Amer of simply Ny, N.Y., with 351.46. Looked him up on the internet and found him at the Summer NABC Tournament in Las Vegas. Address there is Long Island, N.Y. He’s been a big-deal junior player.  

Unit 116’s Linda Burroughsford advances to #15 from #21 with 327.08. Davis Heussler jumps from #33 to #18 with 319.47. Ken Meier up again, #249 from #305, with 157.36. David Millward, #402 a month ago, is now the last man on the list, #500 with 124.72.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. Top 500 players.

Fifteen players now have gone into four figures and Shan Huang of Melbourne, Fla., takes the lead with 1,507.86, after an amazing 333.51-point month. Kevin Dwyer, also of Melbourne, is close behind with 1,499.69. Then it’s Joe Grue of New York City, 1,420.84; Jeff Meckstroth of Clearwater Beach, Fla., 1,414.71; John Hurd of New York City, 1,294.66; Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., 1,249.94; Curtis Cheek and Geoff Hampson, both of Las Vegas, with 1,200.63 and 1,184.72, respectively; and Alex Hudson of Raleigh, N.C., 1,179.41.

And who should be holding down #10 but native Buffalonian Joel Wooldridge, now based in Astoria, Queens, with 1,177.96, thanks to an even slightly more amazing 339.66-point month. A big winner in Las Vegas?

As for others we know and love, District 5 leader Sue Lan Ma slips from #82 to #116. Bernie Greenspan is down from #104 to #178. Unit 116 leader Linda Burroughsford moves up to #413 from #492. Davis Heussler rejoins the Top 500 at #442. The list cuts off at 302.76.