Bridge Blog 1130: August -- cool and dry (complete)

           Once again, my efforts on Bridge Base Online with Selina Volpatti resulted in just a trickle of points – 3.05 of them, to be exact. Total for the year now stands at 49.57 for club play, 54.12 for all endeavors. 

       Well, not quite all of them. There’s OKBridge, which I play more often than BBO and which keeps its own count. If those were included, I’d have a grand total of 106.71, according to the ACBL. Be that as it may, let’s go to the races – the master point races on the ACBL website.

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

        Allen Beroza fattened his lead to 20 points. He now has 94.57 (15.85 of them in August) and is fourth overall among all players in the unit, one notch better than a month ago. Runner-up continues to be David Millward, with 74.40 (8.39 in August). He’s still eighth overall in the unit.

        Ken Meier holds steady in third place with 65.54 points (6.05 in August) and is #13 overall, down from #12. Mike Silverman has displaced me in fourth and it took only 4.59 points to do it. He’s got 50.04 and is #27 overall (down from #23). I’m fifth with 49.57 and #28 overall (down from #22).

        After that, it’s Fred Yellen with a 1.15 point uptick to 38.72. He’s #36 overall, down from #35. Art Morth stood pat at 28.48 and dropped to #54 overall from #44 a month ago.

Eighth is John Sinclair, who has a million points from online play that don’t get counted here. He officially stands with 18.09, same as a month ago. He was #76 then, #83 now.

        Rounding out the list are Bill Rushmore with 17.75 after a 3.21 point month (#84 overall, up from #93); Chongmin Zhang, 1.68 points better at 7.62 (#169, up from #186); and Pat Rasmus, unchanged with 2.79 (#250, down from #248).

        Ace of Clubs. Unit 116. All Players.

        Let’s hear it for the Weltes, John and Martha, tied at the top with 272.52 points. That’s 54.23 more than they had at the end of July.

        Still motionless behind them, and currently hospitalized with a heart ailment, is Alan Greer, who got all of his 100.85 points before the Covid shutdown came along in mid-March.

        Next month fourth-place Allen Beroza will pass him. He’s got 94.57 right now. Bud Seidenberg, too. He’s fifth with 92.93, 10.01 better than he was a month ago.

        After that, it’s Saleh Fetouh, 80.95; Jim Lanzo (a mere NABC Master, but maybe not for long), 77.70; David Millward, 74.40; Nancy Wolsoncroft, 72.31 and still not playing; and Barbara Libby, 70.73. To make this list a dozen, we can add Gay Simpson, 68.54; and Bob Sommerstein, 67.65.

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

        Allen Beroza again. He’s got 106.60, having added 17.98 points overall in August. He’s seventh among all Buffalo players, up from ninth a month ago.

        David Millward maintains his grip on second place, but just barely. He has 79.06, adding 8.39 points. He’s still #14 overall. Nipping at his heels is Ken Meier with 77.87 points, 13.68 of them in August. He’s #15 overall, up from #16.

        Then it’s John Sinclair, unchanged at 58.36 (#30, down from #24); Mike Silverman, 55.20 (#35, down from #33) and me in a sixth-place tie with Fred Yellen at 54.12 (#36 overall – he’s down from #29, I’m down from #32).

        The rest of the Goldies: Art Morth, 35.04 (#53, down from #47); Bill Rushmore, 23.59 (#76, up from #84); Chongmin Zhang, 9.98 (#152, up from #161); and Pat Rasmus, 2.79 (#254, down from #252).

        Mini-McKenney. Unit 116. All Players.

        The Weltes. 335.79, with 61.21 points in August. Point-wise, they’ve almost doubled Saleh Fetouh, who added only 7.11 points last month and sits third with 170.81.

        Then comes Davis Heussler, 145.06. Bud Seidenberg, 115.07, slips ahead of Linda Burroughsford, 113.99. Allen Beroza, 106.60, passes Alan Greer, who’s stuck at 100.85. Jim Lanzo is ninth with 95.09, stepping in front of Bob Sommerstein, tenth with 94.87. Behind them are Amita Arora, 86.10; and Chris Urbanek, 85.61.

        Holding down the next few spots are Gay Simspon, 79.18; David Millward, 79.06; Ken Meier, 77.87; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, both with 77.83; Larry Abate, 77.46; Vic Bergsten, 73.80; and Nancy Wolsoncroft, 72.95.

        Pretty much guaranteed to pass Nancy in September are #21 Barbara Libby, 71.89; #22 David Colligan, 71.07; #23 Sharon Benz, 71.01; and maybe even #24 Mary Ball, 65.91; and her frequent partner, #25 Joyce Frayer, 65.70.

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

        Buffalo’s still one-two here – Allen Beroza with 94.57 (#17 overall among all District 5 players, up from #18); and David Millwad, 74.40 (#40 overall, down from #34).

        Three-four are Pennsylvanians – Philip Goulding of Wexford, which is north of Pittsburgh on I-79, with 72.15 after an 8.02 point month (#43 overall, down from #37); and Kenneth Eichler of Murrysville, which is 29 miles away east of Pittsburgh on I-76, with 71.30 after a 12.78 point month, with 71.30 (#44 overall, up from #50).

        Dropping one notch to fifth place is Buffalo’s Ken Meier with 65.54 (#51 overall, down from #45). Jayne Stahr of Stow, Ohio, continues sixth with 62.70 (#58, up from #65). Ronald Sain of Indiana, Pa., is seventh with 53 even (#94, down from #82). Peter Merker of Mentor, Ohio, joins the Top 10 in eighth place with 51.95 (#102 overall).

        Rounding out the select circle are two more of us Buffalonians. Mike Silverman is ninth with his 50.04 (#113, down from #89) and moi with 49.57 (#115, down from #88).

        Ace of Clubs. District 5. All players.

        Paul Holmes of Wadsworth, Ohio, increased his lead slightly (by eight points or so) over Buffalo’s John and Martha Welte. He added 62.24 points to reach 304.68, while the Weltes increased their winnings by 54.23 for a total of 272.52.

        Erin Gonzalez of Mars, Pa., is still fourth with 211.61 after a 33.82 point month. Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh trades places with Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa. She has 185.26 (19.55 more than a month ago), while he has 178.12 (just 6.46 better).

        Once again, a pair of couples round out the Top Ten. Richard and Monica Early have 159.46 and 144.91, respectively. And then there’s Stewart and Sandra Metosky of Pittsburgh, with 136.35 and 131.59. They’re likely to stay there, too. The #11 player, Sue Becker of Canton, Ohio, has just 114.11 points.

        Mini-McKenney. District 5. Gold Life Masters.

        Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., is secure on top. He has 200.83 points, 22.39 more than a month ago, and he’s seventh overall in the district, up from eighth.

        Steady in second is Buffalo’s Allen Beroza with 106.60, increased by 18.02 from July. He’s #34 in the district, up from #35. Still third is Gary Sikon from Cleveland with 91.93, an improvement of 16.28. He’s #47 overall, up from #54.

        Fourth is Barry Boyd of Wheeling, W.Va., with 84.87 (#57, up from #66). Up from seventh to fifth is Peter Merker of Mentor, Ohio, with 83.60 (#61, up from #72). Sitting sixth, demoted by one spot, is Kenneth Eichler from Murrysville, Pa., with 80.46 (#64, up from #71).

        Then we have a couple Buffalo folks – David Millward with 79.06 (#66, up from #67) and Ken Meier, 77.87 (#71, up from #77).

        Rounding things out were Jayne Stahr of Stow, Ohio, with 70.06 (#92, up from #102); and Leroy Hackenberg of Pittsburgh, 58.90 (#142 in his debut).

        Clustered right behind him are four of us folks from Unit 116 – John Sinclair, 58.36 (#144 overall); Mike Silverman, 55.20 (#160); and me and Fred Yellen, tied with 54.12 (#163).

        Mini-McKenney. District 5. All Players.

        July’s leader, Paul Holmes of Wadsworth, Ohio, continues on top with 366.30, having added 68.49 points. Marching into second are John and Martha Welte with 335.79. They’ve passed Reanette Frobouck, who was on top in June. She has 312.80, just 18.45 better than a month ago.

        Trailing a safe social distance behind her are three more Pennsylvanians – Richard Katz of North Versailles with 237.13, Erin Gonzalez of Mars with 230.71 and Philip Goulding of Wexford with 200.83.

        Then there are four from Ohio – Richard Early from Cuyahoga Falls, 197.24; Phillip Becker from Beachwood, 179.20; Sue Lan Ma from Akron (no longer in Kirkland Hills, Sue?), 178.47, unchanged for two months; and Monica Early, also from Cuyahoga Falls, 171.23.

        Then Buffalonians begin to appear again. Saleh Fetouh is #12 with 170.81. Davis Heussler is #16 with 145.06. Bud Seidenberg is #26 with 115.07.

Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. Gold Life Masters.

        Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla., keeps sailing along, even though his point count for August was smaller than previous months. He collected 48.58 to reach 356.89. No overall standing appears on the Goldie list this month. At the end of August, he was #11 in the nation.

        Meanwhile, second-place Dolores Aquino of Houston gained on him. She took home 55.31 points in August to stand at 349.63. Also gaining was the man Dolores displaced a month ago, David Morse of New Minas, Nova Scotia. He accumulated 60.34 more and now has 348.62. It’s a horse race.

        The other riders are trailing from a distance. Still fourth is Mason Barge of Atlanta with 323.97. Yacob (Jacob) Rubinstien (Rubenstein?) of Holland, Pa., moves up to fifth with 288.67, sneaking past Wendy Lee of East Hanover, N.J., who has 288.36.

        Lynn Leisy of Amelia Island, Fla., keeps her place in seventh with 284.41 (a 56.58 point month for her). She needed it to stay ahead of Peter Martin of Kennesaw, Ga., who has 277.48 after a 68.56 point effort.

        Still standing in ninth place is Steve Vaughn of Kingwood, Texas, with 259.57 (his month yielded 61.67 points). Still tenth is Jonathan Williams, another denizen of The Villages, Fla., with 226.43.

        And us Buffalonians? Allen Beroza is #199, up from #210, with his 94.57. David Millward sits at #352, down from #336, with 74.40. And there’s Ken Meier at #462, down from #419 with 65.54. The list ends at 63 even, 8.07 points higher than a month ago.

        Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. All Players.

        Gillian Miniter of New York City once again tops the list, having snatched another 61.42 points in August to reach 527.61. Her lead shrank, however. Runner-up Stephen Garreffa of Randolph, N.J., stands at 503.59, which is 92.20 better than a month ago.

        Then there’s Milton Neher of Richardson, Texas, swapping places once again with Jack Jones of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Milt has 455.34, thanks to a 59.11 point effort, while Jack has 443.55 after a 45.75 month.

        Ann McClelland of The Villages, Fla., now sits sixth with 432.21, having poured on 62.10 points to pass Mel Norton of Burlington, Ont., who collected a mere 46.63 and has 417.08. Still seventh is Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale with 411.32.

        Eighth is Robert McClendon of Ponte Vedra, Fla., with 411.24, who displaced last month’s eighth-placer, Piotr Olszewski of Hackettstown, N.J., with 409.63, even though Piotr had a 76.37 point August.

Still tenth is Michael Wolf, another Fort Lauderdale player, with 381.88. He collected 62.53 in August. Jonathan Fleischmann of Bloomfield, Mich., ninth a month ago, is now eleventh with 372.35. That’s what a mere 49.53 point month will do for you in this fast company.

Gold Life Master leader Russ Pearly, #11 a month ago, is #14 now. Once again, the Weltes are the only Buffalonians on the list. They’re tied for #50 with 272.52. A month ago, they were tied for #61. The list stops at 144.17.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. Gold Life Masters.

Dolores Aquino of Houston continues to lead. She now has 470.57. But there’s some swapping going on in the places behind her.

Lynn Leisy of Amelia Island, Fla., has reclaimed second from Mason Barge from Atlanta. She has 447.21. He has 424.97. Same with Ann Buchholz of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., who recaptured fourth from Ace of Clubs leader Russ Pearly of The Villages, Fla. She has 381.67. He’s got 379.92.

David Morse of New Minas, Nova Scotia, gets to stay in sixth place with 369.05. Then Peter Martin of Kennesaw, Ga., moves from eighth to seventh with 358.17. Yacob (Jacob) Rubinstien (Rubenstein?) of Holland, Pa., advances from tenth to eighth with 330.51.

Going down are Daniel Jablonski of Stoneham, Mass., dropping from seventh to ninth with 328.60 (a mere 24.55 point month for him), and Wendy Lee of East Hanover, N.J., slipping from ninth to tenth with 317.18.

Buffalo’s lone representative is Allen Beroza with 106.60. He’s #261, up from a tie for #304. And hey, there’s Muriel Tremblay from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., at #483 with 81.72 after an 8.71 point run. A month ago she was #487. The list of 500 stops at 80.19, up 8.11 since July.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. All Players.

We knew Robert McClendon of Ponte Vedra, Fla., would be the first to crack the millennial mark this year. In fact, he blew right past it. 1,132.23 points. 134.60 of them in August.

Still stuck in three figures is everybody else. The best of them are all New York City players – Gillian Miniter with 968.24, Joe Grue with 830.51 and John Hurd with 783.88.

Fifth place Jacob Morgan, who hailed from Madison, Wis., has 747.19 and a wide lead over Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., who has 676.45.

The legendary Jeff Meckstroth is seventh again with 640.90, while a guy named Peter J. Boyd-Bowman of Greensboro, N.C., has assumed eighth place with 631.32. He bumped another North Carolinian, Alex Hudson of Morrisville, who has 627.63. Rounding out the Top Ten is Mel Norton of Burlington, Ont., with 626.11.

Former Buffalonian Joel Wooldridge, who spent one day in August as a bridge professor online, moves down to #109 from #98 with 343.67 after a 26.43 point month. Now within hailing distance of him, tied for #114 with 335.79 are the Weltes, John and Martha. They picked up 61.21 points and levitated from #149. The magic 500 ends at 203.10.