Bridge Blog 1129: Highs in July

There are my official points – 46.52 in club play, 51.07 for clubs and tournaments – and then there are my other points. The online points. 42.31 of them – 13.31 more than I had at the end of June. Where do they count? One of these days, I’m finding out. Meanwhile, let’s look at those master point races for my favorite month.

Ace of Clubs (Club Play Only). Unit 116 (Buffalo only). Gold Life Masters. (Players with 2,500 to 3,500 points).

Allen Beroza marches on in this virtual world. He added 22.20 points in July and now reigns with 78.72 points. He’s solidly in front of the previous leader, David Millward, who accumulated only 5.52 more points and has 66.01. Allen is fifth among all Unit 116 players. David is eighth.

Ken Meier is gaining on David, increasing his holdings by 10.91 points to reach 59.49. He’s #12 overall. I’m still fourth, having earned 5.36 points in Bridge Base Online efforts, with 46.52. I’m #22 overall. And still right behind me is Mike Silverman, 5.99 points better than an month ago with 45.45 and #23 overall.

After that, it’s Fred Yellen, unchanged at 37.57 (#35); Art Morth, 28.48 (#44); John Sinclair, 18.09 (#76); Bill Rushmore, 14.54 (#93); Chongmin Zhang, unchanged at 5.94 (#186); and Pat Rasmus, also unchanged with 2.79 (#248). That’s every single one of us Goldies.

Ace of Clubs. Unit 116. All players.

Bigger and better than a month ago are the Weltes. John and Martha found 55.46 points playing together online and now share the lead with 218.29 points each.

Motionless behind him is Alan Greer, with those same 100.85 points he had when the Airport Bridge Club closed on March 12. Bud Seidenberg is fourth, 6.99 points better than a month ago, with 82.92. Gaining on him is Gold Life Master leader Allen Beroza with 78.72.

After that, it’s Saleh Fetouh, down one rung to sixth place with 73.64 after a 6.01 point month. He’s passed Nancy Wolstoncroft like she’s standing still. Well, actually, she is. She has 72.31, just like she had back in March.

Eighth is David Millward, 66.01, followed by Bob Sommerstein, 64.63; Jim Lanzo, 61.91; and Barbara Libby, #11 with 60.43.

Mini-McKenney (Club points plus tournament points). Unit 116. Gold Life Masters.

Allen Beroza is standing taller here. His 88.62 points not only lead this division, but also advance him three places among all Unit 116. He’s now ninth overall.

David Millward, who was #13 overall in June, is #14 now with 70.67. Then we have Ken Meier, 66.19 (#16 overall, up from #21); John Sinclair, 58.36 (#24, down from #19); Fred Yellen, 53.07 (#29, down from 26); moi, 51.07 (#32, down from #30); Mike Silverman, 50.61 (#33, down from #32); Art Morth, 33.78 (#47, up from #48); Bill Rushmore, 20.38 (#84, down from #78); Chongmin Zhang, 8.30 (#161, down from #150); and Pat Rasmus, 2.79 (#252, down from #232).

Mini-McKenney. Unit 116. All players.

Who else but the Weltes. John and Martha have 274.58 overall, up 55.46 from June and running circles around third-place Saleh Fetouh, who has 163.70.

Partners Davis Heussler and Linda Burroughsford are fourth and fifth, with 135.77 and 112.39, respectively. Bud Seidenberg steps up a notch to sixth with 105.06, surpassing Alan Greer, who has 100.85.

The next six places belong to Bob Sommerstein, 90.43; Allen Beroza, 88.62; Jim Lanzo, 78.74; Larry Abate, 76.06; Chris Urbanek, 75.46; and Nancy Wolstoncroft, 72.95.

Ace of Clubs. District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh). Gold Life Masters.

Unit 116 players are one-two here and hold five of the top 10 spots.

Allen Beroza, 78.72 (#18 overall, up from #33). David Millward, 66.01 (#34 overall, down from #27). Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., 64.13 (#37, up from #42). Ken Meier, 59.49 (#45, up from #51). Kenneth Eichler of Murrysville, Pa., 58.52 (#50, up from #52); Jayne Stahr of Stow, Ohio, 52.29 (#65, down from #63); Brenda Merkich of Cortland, Ohio, 48.36 (#77, down from #54); Ronald Sain of Indiana, Pa., 47.30 (debuting here, #82 overall); moi, 46.52 (#88 overall, down from #75); and Mike Silverman, 45.45 (#96, down from #88).

Ace of Clubs. District 5. All players.

Paul Holmes of Wadsworth, Ohio, is still on top after enjoying a 61.34 point month. He’s got 242.44.

He actually managed to increase his lead over those Weltes, tied for second with 218.29, having only added 51.46.

Then we’ve got Erin Gonzalez of Mars, Pa., 177.79; Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa., 171.66; Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 165.71; and then a pair of couples – Richard and Monica Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, with 129.38 and 115.73, respectively; and Stewart and Sandra Metosky of Pittsburgh, with 109.75 and 104.99. Alan Greer is looking on from #11 with his 100.85, a fraction ahead of Lynn Rafferty of Columbiana, Ohio, with 100.78.

Mini-McKenney. District 5. Gold Life Masters.

No surprise to see Philip Goulding on top again. Even though his 178.44 points are only 13.74 better than he had at the end of June, he’s got double the earnings of the next player in line. He’s eighth overall in the district, down one slot.

The surprise is in second place. Buffalo’s Allen Beroza. 88.62 points. He’s #35 overall, much improved from #56. He’s displaced Gary Sikon of Cleveland, who added less than a point and stands at 75.65. He’s #54 overall.

Meanwhile, Barry Boyd of Wheeling, W.Va., has squeezed ahead of David Millward. Barry has 70.90 points, David has 70.67. Barry’s #66 overall, David’s #67.

Then it’s Kenneth Eichler of Murrysville, Pa., 67.68 (#71, up from #82); Peter Merker of Mentor, Ohio, 67.28 (#72, up from #102); Ken Meier, 66.19 (#77, up from #92); and Jayne Stahr of Stow, Ohio, 59.65 (#102 in her debut).

Next four spots, #10 to #13, are held by Unit 116 players – John Sinclair, 58.36 (#107, down from #86); Fred Yellen, 53.07 (#132, down from #101); moi, 51.07 (#143, same spot as a month ago); and Mike Silverman, 50.61 (#145).

Mini-McKenney. District 5. All Players.

It took a 97.34 point month to do it, but Paul Holmes of Wadsworth, Ohio, vaulted from fourth to first in the district with 297.81. He whipped past last month’s leader, Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, whose 293.25 represents just a 22.31 point improvement.

The Weltes? Tied for third with 274.58. That’s 55.46 better than a month ago.

Next we have a couple more Pennsylvanians, Richard Katz of North Versailles and Erin Gonzalez of Mars, with 230.67 and 188.15, respectively. Perennial leader Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, is seventh with 178.47, same as she had a month ago.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., 178.44; Richard Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 167.16; and Buffalo’s Saleh Fetouh, 163.50.

More Buffalonians a little further down the trail – Davis Heussler at #13 with his 135.77, Linda Burroughsford at #19 with her 112.39, Bud Seidenberg at #24 with 105.06 and Alan Greer at #26 with 100.85.

Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. Gold Life Masters.

Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., acquired more of what he needed to stay astride the heap here – 52.38 points. Now he’s got 318.11. In the larger picture, though, among all players in the nation, he’s #11.

Dolores Aquino of Houston bounced back to second with 294.32, thanks to 71.69 points. She’s #19 overall. David Morse of New Minas, Nova Scotia, slipped back to third, having earned just 49.77 points to have 288.28. He’s #22 overall.

Then it’s same order as a month ago for a while – Mason Barge of Atlanta, 281.66 (#24); Wendy Lee of East Hanover, N.J., 255.96 (#32); Yacob (Jacob) Rubinstien (?) of Holland, Pa., 242.62 (#40); and Lynn Leisy of Amelia Island, Fla., 227.83 (#52). In eighth place, there’s Peter Martin of Kennesaw, Ga., with 208.92 (#72), slipping ahead of Steve Vaughn of Kingwood, Texas, with 198 even (#89).

And amazingly, the quartet from The Villages, Fla., is still in place from #10 to #13 and still in the same order – Jonathan Williams, 194.84 (#97 overall nationally); Alex and Sandy Booke, 190.95 and 188.63 (#107 and #109); and Paul Hassett, 176.06 (#148).

Where are the Buffalo people? Allen Beroza is #210 with his 78.72. David Millward is #336 with 66.01. Ken Meier is #419 with 59.49. The list stops at 54.93.

Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. All Players.

Where does Gillian Miniter of New York City find all those points? She added 95.05 in July to reach 466.29, stretching her lead over second-place Stephen Garreffa of Randolph, N.J., with has 411.39 after a 64.18 point month.

Swapping chairs again are Jack Jones of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with 397.70, and Milton Neher of Richardson, Texas, with 396.23. Jack picked up 82.03 points. Milt amassed 66.20.

Fifth, sixth and seventh again are Mel Norton of Burlington, Ont., with 370.55; Ann McClelland of The Villages, Fla., with 370.11; and Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with 364.77.

Eighth belongs to Piotr Olszewski of Hackettstown, N.J., with 333.26. Ninth is Jonathan Fleischmann of Bloomfield, Mich., with 320.82. Tenth is Michael Worth of Fort Lauderdale, with 319.35. As noted above, Gold Life Master national leader Russ Pearly, also of The Villages, is only eleventh here.

Let’s check on John and Martha Welte. Hey, tied for #61 with 218.29. No Alan Greer or anybody else from Unit 116. The list stops at 122.71.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. Gold Life Masters.

Still Dolores Aquino of Houston. Her total is 412.11, 70.69 better than a month ago. Second place finds Mason Barge of Atlanta swapping seats with Lynn Leisy of Amelia Island, Fla. He now has 382.31, 56.95 more than June. She’s got 376.95, an improvement of just 47.57.

Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., with 341.34, takes fourth place from Ann Buchholz of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., who has 327.13. And then some more familiar faces – David Morse of New Minas, Nova Scotia, 308.71; Daniel Jablonski of Stoneham, Mass., 304.05; Peter Martin of Kennesaw, Ga., 289.61; Wendy Lee of East Hanover, N.J., 284.78; and that Yacob (Jacob) guy from Holland, Pa., 278.66.

There are Buffaloons on this list if you scroll down far enough. Tied for #304 with Heather Burling of Newmarket, Ont., is Allen Beroza. They have 88.62. Looks like he’s our one-and-only. But hey, there’s Muriel Tremblay from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., who I play against at least three days a week. She’s at #487 with 73.01. The list of 500 stops at 72.08.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. All Players.

There are online points out there and Robert McClendon of Ponte Vedra, Fla., brought home 163.74 of them in July. He’s the king with 997.63.

Queen, then, is Gillian Miniter of New York City, who’s second with 876.81. That’s an increase of 128.72.

More New Yorkers are next. Joe Grue with 799.05 (up 122.03) and John Hurd with 732.59 (up 158.25). Falling from third to fifth is Jacob Morgan of Madison, Wis., who collected only 41.43 points to sit at 718.89.

Who’s next? Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., 636.61; the legendary Jeff Meckstroth, 597.10; Alex Hudson of Morrisville, N.C., 583.65; Eddie Wold of Houston, 581.13; and Shan Huang of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., 572.83.

Former Buffalonian Joel Wooldridge, now of Jackson Heights, Queens, moves up to #98 from #113 with 317.24, which is 47.34 better than a month ago. Those Weltes, John and Martha, are tied for #149 with 274.58. Saleh Fetouh, Unit 116’s other representative on this list a month ago, is missing in action this time. He got 163.50. To make the magic 500, it now takes at least 179.33. 

Bridge Blog 1128: Jean-Paul Sartre is sitting North

Pandemic bridge is giving me a case of existential despair. It just doesn't carry the same kind of cosmic significance that 15 years of six-day-a-week club play did.

For one thing, playing every day is much less of an imperative. Exhibit #1: My constant partner, Selina Volpatti, is skipping this afternoon's game for a session with her manicurist. 

For me, it's medical appointments. Does one intrude on an Internet game? So be it. Bridge dates online are made to be broken. Pre-coronavirus, a date with a doc would have been delegated to one end of the day or the other. Those hours at the tables were  sacrosanct. Nothing was more full of meaning.

On the other hand, maybe this is just a crisis of master points. 

Selina and I play mostly in the ACBL matches on OKBridge and even though we’ve earned more than 40 points there since April, they’re not real points. They do not count in the ACBL's unit and district point races.

For real points, we need Bridge Base Online. Currently, we only get there three times a week in the St. Catharines club’s early afternoon game. Our record is dismal. 

Sigh! This climb to Emerald Life Master keeps rolling back to the bottom of the hill. Move over, Sisyphus. We're opening up another lane.