Bridge Blog 1149: Did we fall or were we pushed?

We fell down in our final round, partner Selina Volpatti declared this Friday  afternoon after we came in second North-South and third overall in the six-table Club Championship game at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Duplicate Bridge Club across the bridge in Ontario. Out of a possible 20 match points in the round, we only got 7.5. 

That left us four match points behind the North-South winners, Claude and Muriel Trembley, but should we really be complaining? We still had a 57.92% game. We got go to bring home 1.62 master points. 

Plus, that last round against Darlene Menhennet and Leslie Nash (daughter of the recently departed Kit Nash, who was a petite force of nature) may have been sour, but it wasn't all that bad. It started out so sweetly, with me making 3 Spades, a top board. 

But then we were all left-footed. I should have sabotaged them when I bid 4 Diamonds to deny them a sure 3 Heart contract. Leslie doubled. Down 1, plus 100 for them. No problem. When they make 3 Hearts, they get plus 140. But I didn't count on how wimpy the East-Wests would be at the other tables. They gave up and let North-South play and make 3 Diamonds. 

Nothing we could do about the third hand, either. We take our two Aces and that's that. At some tables, the suit was Diamonds. Two Wests played and made a 5 Diamond bid. At our table, East played 4 Hearts and made an overtrick. Not as bad,  though, as the table where West played 3 No Trump and ran all 13 tricks -- seven Diamonds and six Hearts. With a Club lead, the one North should have made since it was his longest and strongest suit, 3 No Trump goes down two. Here it is: 

South (dealer) 

Spades A-9-4-3-2; Hearts 2; Diamonds 10-4; Clubs K-Q-10-6-5.

West

Spades Q; Hearts K-7; Diamonds K-Q-J-9-8-7-5; Clubs J-4-2. 

North

Spades J-10-5; Hearts 10-8-4-3; Diamonds 6-2; Clubs A-9-7-3.

East

Spades K-8-7-6; Hearts A-Q-J-9-6-5; Diamonds A-3; Clubs 8. 

To complete our knee-scraping, the round finished with East-West making two overtricks on a 3 No Trump contract. Bottom board. Nobody else in No Trump got overtricks. 

Actually, Selina forgot that we tripped up just as badly in the very first round. She opened a Spade and I was holding a 17-point No Trump hand. We arrived at 6 Spades, then wound up being the only North-South who bid the slam and didn't make it. 

Bridge Blog 1148: Points, schmoints!

 

At the Buffalo Fall Sectional last year, the good Dr. Saleh Fetouh greeted me with the news that he had just reached 10,000 master points. If all of his points are properly aligned, that would make him a Platinum Life Master. Or maybe a Grand Life Master, if he's won in a high-level event like the Bermuda Bowl. 

It's highly unlikely that I will ever reach that exalted level, even at the rate of 1,000 points per year, like Saleh in 2024. Even the next ACBL level, Sapphire Life Master, will take 3,500 points. And not just any points. It would take 700 silver, red, gold or platinum points, half of them gold or platinum. That's a tall order. I have only 102.89 gold points and no platinum points whatsoever. I'd have to become a tournament rat to get those. 

However, I'll give a little cheer when I reach a little bitty milestone this year – 3,000 points. In tournaments, that's the dividing line between the A and the B stratifications. Since I usually play with partners with fewer points, I might still be in B if those games where the directors average us out. If they don't, we'll be swimming with the barracudas. 

In truth, in my current state of skill and the time I can devote to playing this best-of-all-possible games, I'll be happy to chalk up a couple points a month, like I did in 2024. Lo and behold, that's happened already. At our first two Friday games at the Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., club, my Canadian partner Selina and I finished second and third overall, 66.82% and 58.68% respectively, good for 1.21 and 0.73 points. 

Add to that our single online excursion into Okbridge, where we saw all the same folks we saw last time we played there in October. It can be a tough crowd, so we were overjoyed to finish sixth out of 33 pairs in a 12-board ACBL game with 57.21%. That got us another 0.54 of a point.

Bridge Blog 1147: Resolute

 

Can New Year's resolutions really be resolute? We'll find out here in 2025 as I try to revive my posts on this-here bridge blog. 

First, let's consider one of my other resolutions – making it to the tables, real and virtual. It's a modest goal, an average of once a week. So far, so good – three times in three weeks, once virtual and twice face-to-face. 

Nevertheless, how often that happens depends on circumstances beyond my control, like medical appointments and whether I've got a partner. Fridays should be constant. That's when I venture across the border to join my Canadian partner at the Bridge Centre of Niagara in St. Catharines or at the spiffy Community Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake. But last year she had a lingering health crisis and that kept us apart for several months. 

If the fates allow, the next two weeks promise to be above par. I'm booked with my Canadian partner for all three days of the Niagara Sectional Tournament in St. Catharines on Super Bowl weekend. And next week there's Friday again at NOTL and Saturday at the monthly special game at the Buffalo Bridge Center. 

Somebody at NOTL asked me yesterday why I don't play more often in Buffalo. Alas, with nearly 3,000 master points, I can only do the open games and the Buffalo Bridge Center has just two of them – Wednesday and Friday. And Wednesday's out. I work. 

Bridge Blog 1146: MIA

 

Feb. 17, 2023

I can’t believe it. I just looked into the master point races on the ACBL website and nothing at all for me in January. Not that I arranged for all that many chances to collect them. I skipped the Buffalo Winter Sectional and didn’t look for other opportunities beyond my usual dates with Canadian partner Selina Volpatti. We’re playing online on Tuesdays and Fridays and we haven’t had a particularly rewarding year.

         (Hey, wait a minute! We actually did come away with something in January, but it was in those OKBridge games, which don’t count in the ACBL races.)

         At any rate, we finally managed to shine in the eyes of the ACBL last weekend in the St. Catharines Sectional, making the most of my lone opportunity to play on Friday. Since the games were at 1 and 7:30 p.m., I could only do the afternoon session with Selina. Not our finest hour, but our 48% finish was good enough to get us a fraction of a silver point – 0.84 of one. Thank you, miracle of stratification!

         O, Canada, how I’ve missed you. This was the first time I rolled across the Peace Bridge since March 13, 2020, after which the pandemic shut everything down, including the border. Seeing all the St. Catharines folks again after such a long hiatus was a great pleasure, even though we've had virtual contact in the online games. Unlike here in Buffalo, I wasn’t alone in masking up. Although the check-in table was making sure everyone had their Covid-19 shots, I still felt better taking the precaution.

Bridge Blog 1145: A dangerous game

Email to John Bava, president of Western New York Unit 116 ACBL, after I got a text from partner Selina Volpatti telling me that she had come down with what apparently is a mild case of Covid-19 Sunday night: 

Hi, John!

My partner in the Regional just texted me this morning to say that she's come down with Covid. Bill Finkelstein suggests that I let somebody know who's more or less in charge of things. Gay Simpson thought that would be Davis Heussler, but I don't have his email address. I have yours, though, so here are the particulars. 

My partner was Selina Volpatti and we only played on Friday in the big pairs game, which means we saw pretty much the same people as North-South in the morning and East-West in the afternoon. She didn't wear a mask -- aside from me, very few players did. And she wasn't symptomatic at the time. She started noticing it Sunday. 

Not sure of the protocol on this -- do people routinely check themselves for symptoms during and after tournaments these days? -- but it seems to me that folks should be alerted to the possibility of exposure. 

Thanks,

Dale

John noted that he contacted Davis and that Bill Finkelstein also had called him. As for me, results were negative on a home test earlier today and I feel fine, but I was unmasked with Selina during lunch on Friday at a pizza and salad restaurant (Pie O' Mine and Greens on Transit Road) and in the car. Since it was such a beautiful late October day, I'm pretty sure I had the sunroof and/or the windows open.

Bridge Blog 1144: A return to the tables (Buffalo Fall Sectional Tournament)

Nine reflections on the Buffalo Fall Sectional Tournament Sept. 16 to 18 in the Main-Transit Fire Hall social hall:

1.   What do you do with real cards? After playing online bridge for 2½ years, I’m a little surprised to re-encounter the mechanics of the game – dealing, sorting the hand, giving the cards that little shuffle before they’re put back into the slots in the board and passed along to the next table. That all used to be automatic. 

2.   Am I still capable of playing with someone else? This must be what it’s like to start dating again after a long marriage. I’ve been monogamous with my Canadian partner Selina Volpatti since March 2020. The most unsettling thing about playing with Mike Silverman is that he doesn’t do Cappelletti against an opponent’s 1 No Trump opener. The second most unsettling thing is that after holding back on bidding a couple times and falling short of our best contract, I get impatient, bid more aggressively and wind up giving opponent John Ziemer the top score of 1,100 he always loves to get from me. With Selina, who’s a pushy competitor, that’s never an issue.

3.   What about Covid? Everybody has to be vaxxed. Director Brian Meyer wears face protection. So does Mike Silverman. So do I. In fact, I pull out those weird duck billed N95 models for the occasion to be extra safe. But not many other players do. When our opponents are uncovered, sometimes they ask if we prefer that they be masked. No problem, I say at first. But after the third inquiry, I change my tune. They mask up.  

4.   Can I win against real people? Mike Silverman and I can’t. Our 48.08% in the Friday morning session fell just short of getting us some fraction of a master point. Disappointing, but respectable. The afternoon feels better as we play it, but it isn’t. 43.35%. Not quite dead last.

5.   Can we hold our own against those sharks in the Swiss team game on Sunday? We have high hopes – Mike is paired with Larry Abate and Selina has crossed the border to play with me – but we’re crushed in the first two rounds. A comeback seems out of the question – instead of seven rounds of seven boards, we ‘re playing five rounds of 10 boards. Our next opponents are some other bottom dwellers and I feel guilty about how badly we trounce them. I don’t think I’ve ever won a game by 68 International Match Points before. Our final rounds are a wash – we lose to the Unit 116 whiz kids Tiger Li and Darwin Skalski by a single IMP and have the same squeak-by margin when we win the day-ending match.

6.   So was it a lost weekend? Thought so, but miracles still happen. We scratch after all. Our Swiss team effort is just good enough to come in second in the B stratification. 2.21 silver points.

7.   Was it just like it was before Covid? In a word, no. Fifteen tables in the big game Friday, half a dozen more in the novice game at the far end of the big room. Saturday had fewer, but I wasn’t there to see it. Sunday Swiss, which used to attract 20 or more teams, had only 12.

8.   Super spreader?  Airport Bridge Club manager Bill Finkelstein thought so before it happened and now, 10 days later, he’s confirming it. He tells me that two players were sent home in the middle of the day Friday with Covid symptoms. Another player who was there Friday had to bow out Saturday for the same reason. No mention of this at all by the folks running the tournament. Is this not a major breach of basic public health precautions? We should have been told.

9. Will I do another tournament? Two regionals are coming up – Buffalo in October, St. Catharines in November. Not every day – I don’t have enough vacation time left. Maybe not at all. But Canada has dropped its border restrictions and I’ll have my next booster shot by then. We’ll see. 

Bridge Blog 1143: A chill in July (Parts I & II & all of III)

 

Those lazy, hazy days of summer turned out to be pretty lazy and hazy for us bridge players as well. Not a big month for winning points, apparently. And I thought it was just me.

          Well, it was me. I managed only 4.96, hampered by a total shutout during Silver Linings Week at the end of the month. My total is now an unremarkable 41.47. However, it didn’t affect my standings vis a vis the others in Unit 116. I’m still sixth among the Gold Life Masters and still #31 among all players in Buffalo. Here’s the breakdown:

Ace of Clubs (club play only). Unit 116 (Just Buffalo). Gold Life Masters (2,500 to 3,500 points). 

          An off month for John and Martha Welte, the couple on top of the heap in Unit 116. John improved by just 27.34 points to reach 407.65 and must have had a game without his partner because she only accumulated 27.06 points to stand at 407.37.

          Third-place Ken Meier had a better month than they did – 28.85 – but that only brings his total to 144.09. He continues in fourth place among all Unit 116 players.

          Allen Beroza keeps his grip on fourth place, but just barely after a 2.79 point month, bringing him to 92.95. He’s #11 overall, down from eighth. Nipping at his heels is David Millward with 91.19 after a 9.11 month. He’s #13 in the unit, down from #12.

          It’s a big step down to sixth place, where I’m dwelling with 41.47. And a smaller but still significant step to seventh, where Bill Rushmore resides unchanged with 27.24. He’s #50 among all Buffalo players, down from #46, but still in no danger from eighth place Davis Heussler, who improved by only 0.42 of a point to reach 20.93. He’s #62, down from #59 overall.

          Pat Rasmus snatched ninth place from Fred Yellen, picking up 2.60 points to reach 10.77, passing Fred, who stayed still with 10.48. She’s #110 overall, up from #118. He’s #113, down from #105. Completing the list is Art Morth, also without new points at 5.96. He’s #139 overall, down from #132. 

Ace of Clubs. Unit 116. All players. 

          John and Martha Welte may not be tied for the top any more among all Buffalo players, but they’re a very tight 1-2 – John with 407.64, Martha with 407.37.

          Third again is Jim Lanzo with 146.42 after a 27.40 month.  Gaining on him ever so slightly is Ken Meier with 144.09 and a 28.85 month.

          Martha Townson solidifies her seat in fifth place, thanks to a 26.49 month. She now has 136.61. Amita Amora, tenth a month ago, turns in a 33.20 point effort and jumps up to take sixth place from Barbara Libby. She has 118.56, while Barbara has 114.77, having improved by only 8.37.

          Rounding out the Top 10 are Vic Bergsten with 113.81 after a 12.78 month; Larry Himelein with 99.43 (a 10.09 month); and Sandi England with 93.97 (up 8.72).

          Then come Allen Beroza, 92.95; Gay Simpson, 92.86; David Millward, 91.19; Bram and Terry Hamovitch, 82.59; Violet Makhija, 77.51; Judi Marshall, 74.69; Sharon Benz, 74.17; Jim Easton, 72.53; and Marilyn Wortzman, 70.28. Violet’s husband, Jasbeer, is #21 with 67.24 and the lovely Bonnie Clement is #22 with 65.80. 

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

           Only three players affected by addition of tournament points here – the Weltes and Davis Heussler. Otherwise the list is a mirror of the Ace of Clubs race.

          John Welte, 454.27, improved by those same 27.34 points he showed in the Ace of Clubs competition. Martha Welte, 453.99. They’re 1-2 in the Unit.

          Ken Meier’s 144.09 is third here also, but sixth overall in the unit, down from fifth. Allen Beroza has the same 92.95 and is #11 overall, down from ninth. David Millward with 91.19 holds steady at #13 overall.

          Davis Heussler checks in with 72.98 points, an improvement of 14.62, nearly all of them tournament points. He’s #21 overall, up from #22. My 41.47 keeps me in seventh place, but I drop back to #35 overall from #34.

          Bill Rushmore has 27.24 and is #53, down from #49. Pat Rasmus is ninth here, too, with 11.77. She’s #112 overall, up from #119. Fred Yellen, standing pat with 10.48, is #115, down from #107. And Art Morth stays with his previous 5.96, making him #141 overall, down from #133.

Mini-McKenney. Unit 116. All players.

           John and Martha Welte are 1-2, with 454.27 and 453.99, respectively. Then it’s Jim Lanzo, 174.77; Martha Townson, 154.48; the ever-advancing Amita Arora, claiming fifth from Ken Meier (she has 147.14, he has 144.09); Vic Bergsten, 114.79; Barbara Libby, 114.77; Larry Himelein, 99.43; and Sandi England, 93.97.

          The teens – Allen Beroza demoted from the Top 10 with 92.95, then it’s Gay Simpson, 92.86; David Millward, 91.19; Bram and Terry Hamovitch, 83.12; Jim Easton, 77.88; Violet Makhija, 77.51; Marilyn Wortzman, 75.63; Judi Marshall, 74.69; and Sharon Benz, 74.17. Near misses are Davis Heussler, 72.98; and Bonnie Clement, 70.82.

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

          Same as June, pretty much. Here’s the charmed circle. John Welte, 407.65 (first of all players in the district, too). Martha Welte, 407.37 (second overall). Monica Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 153.69 after a 14.65 point month (sixth overall, up from seventh). Buffalo’s Ken Meier, 144.09 (tenth overall, up from #14). Doug Snyder, Shaker Heights, Ohio, 122.09 with a 10.72 point month (#18 in the district, down from #16). Peter Merker, Menter, Ohio., 99.73, just 5.98 better (#35, down from #32). Allen Beroza, 92.95 (#43, down from #35). David Millward, 91.19 (#46, down from #45). David Norris of Rocky River, Ohio, 90.92 and an 11.58 month (#47, up from #50). Jack Hawthorne, 85.05 after a 12.70 month (#52, up from #59).

          My 41.47 sticks me at #20, down from #18, and #197 overall, which is where I was at the end of June. 

Ace of Clubs. District 5. All players.

          Yep, John Welte with 407.65 and wife Martha with 407.37, then four Ohioans. Gary Cole of Norwalk takes third with 175.36 after 22.98 month. He displaces Davis Bonner of Mentor, who has 172.14, having accumulated 16.10. Then come the Earlys from Cuyahoga Falls – Richard with 164.19 (15.77 month) and Monica with 153.69 (14.65 month).

          July lifted both Earlys to the north side of the only Pennsylvanian in the Top 10 – Reanette Frobouck from Pittsburgh, who has 152.63 after an 8.74 month, which dropped her down a rung to seventh place. Next is Barbara Kotton of Beachwood, Ohio, with 147.75 (15.59 month), followed by a pair of Buffalonians, Jim Lanzo with 146.52 and Ken Meier with 144.09. Jim Lanzo, who was #13 a month ago, had a 27.40 month.

          Next Unit 116 representatives are Martha Townson at #16 with 136.61, the amazing Amita Arora at #21 with 118.56, Barbara Libby at #25 with 114.47, Vic Bergsten at #28 with 113.81, Larry Himelein at #38 with 99.43, and then a Buffa-cluster – Sandi England at #42 with 93.97, Allen Beroza at #43 with 92.95, Gay Simpson at #44 with 92.86 and David Millward at #46 with 91.19. 

Mini-McKenney. District 5. Gold Life Masters. 

          Once again, almost a carbon copy of Ace of Clubs. Weltes on top with 454.27 (John) and 453.99 (Martha). Then Ohioan Monica Early with 153.69 (continuing #11 overall), followed by Unit 116’s Ken Meier with 144.09 (#17 in the district, up from #21).

          Still fifth is Doug Snyder of Shaker Heights, Ohio, with 124.14 (#26 down from #24). David Norris of Rocky River, Ohio, moves up a notch with 107.84 (still #39), displacing Peter Merker of Mentor, Ohio, with 99.73 (#45, down from #39).

          Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh stays eighth with 96.69 (#50 overall, down from #42). Allen Beroza remains ninth with 92.95 (#56, down from #45). And David Millward keeps his tenth-place seat with 91.19 (#59, down from #57).

          Other Buffaloons – Davis Heussler with 92.98, steady at #15 (#94 overall, up from #94); me at #23, down from #21, with 41.47 (#224 overall, down from #222). 

Mini-McKenney. District 5. All players. 

          John Welte, 454.27. Martha Welte, 453.99. Gary Cole of Norwalk, Ohio, is still third with 183.37, after a 15.98 month. Fourth, however, now belongs to Unit 116’s Jim Lanzo with 174.77, moving up from eighth with a 27.50 month.

          New to the Top 10 is Davis Bonner of Mentor, Ohio, sitting fifth with 172.14. Then it’s Amy Goddard of Hartville, Ohio, with 167.44, slipped from fifth a month ago after a 16.14 month.

          Still seventh is Richard Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, with 164.19 (15.61 point month), followed by Barbara Kotton of Beachwood, Ohio, up from tenth place with 158.86 (15.59 point month). Bruce Cahoon of Silver Lake, Ohio, is ninth with 156.72, demoted from sixth place after a 6.29 effort. Unit 116’s Martha Townson claims tenth with 154.48, up from #15 after a 26.49 bonanza.

          Threatening to break through shortly is #13 Amita Arora with 147.14, up from #23 after a 33.28 romp. She may just zip past #11 Monica Early from Cuyahoga Falls (153.69) and Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh (152.63).

          Next Buffalo players are Ken Meier at #17 with 144.09, Vic Bergsten at #33 with 114.79, Barbara Libby at #34 with 114.77,  Larry Himelein at #46 with 99.43 and then another cluster – Sandi England at #54 with 93.97, Allen Beroza at #56 with 92.95, Gay Simpson at #57 at 92.86 and David Millward at #59 with 91.19.

Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. Gold Life Masters. 

          The decoupled Weltes slip down another notch coast to coast. Tied for sixth a month ago among all Gold Life Masters in the country, John and Martha are now seventh and eighth respectively, John with 407.65, Martha with 407.37. Nationwide among all players, they’re #59 and #60, down from a tie for #44.

          Now for the rest of the Top 10. Zipping way ahead is last two month’s leader, Hal Jones Jr. of Lorton, Va., with 659 points even after a 105.99 point month. He’s seventh in all the country, up from ninth a month ago.

          Still second is Stephen Donohue of Riverwoods, Ill., with 592.43 after a 49.94 point month. He’s #16 overall, down from #12. Continuing third is May’s leader, Piotr Olszewski of Hackettstown, N.J., with 548.13 after a 42.58 point month. He’s #23 overall, down from #19.

          Making tracks in fourth is Yacob (Jacob) Rubinstien of Holland, Pa., with 528.94, having logged a 108.61 month. He’s #25 overall, up from #33. He opened up a lot of daylight between him and the person he passed a month ago, June Patton of Brevard, N.C. She’s still fifth with 480.69 following a 64.92 month. Overall, she’s #32, up from #34.

          Before we get to the Weltes, there’s the guy who passed them, Mark Crumrine of Ocala, Fla., with 414.68, thanks to a 73.08 month. He’s #56 overall, up from #70.

Swapping places are the last two guys on the list – Paul Burleson of Cross River, N.Y., who now has 350.92 (42.13 month) and Krzysztof Jarosz of Grantham, N.H., who registers 335.63 (18.53 month). Burleson is #100 nationwide, up from #102. Jarosz is #111, down from #91. Still #11 is the lady Burleson bumped a month ago, Judy Hanson of Eagan, Minn., with 316.74, having brought in only 21.25 points in July. She’s #124 overall, down from #114.

Scanning the list of 500, we find Buffalo’s Ken Meier at #130 with 144.09. He was #170 a month ago. Down in a tie at #364 is Allen Beroza with 92.95. He’s dropped from #303. At #375 is David Millward with 91.19. He was #366 a month ago. Last person on the list has 77.17. 

Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. All Players. 

          OMG, look at Vera Carpenter, the lady from York, Ont., we often saw at the tables at the Airport Bridge Club. She’s ascended to second place, outpacing perennial runner-up Irva Neyhart of Portland, Ore. Here’s the list:

          Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., still on top with 968.02 after a 220.03 month. Vera now holds 736.65, having increased her haul by 122.11. Irva’s 720.81 is 82.90 better than a month ago.

          Still fourth is Mel Norton of Burlington, Ont., with 699.99 after an 87.55 month. John Brady of Jacksonville, Fla., enters the Top 10 in fifth place with 698.31. Demoted to sixth, despite having a respectable 86.84 month, is Milton Neher of Richardson, Texas, with 689.92.

          Seventh belongs to Gold Life Master leader Hal Jones Jr. of Lorton, Va., with 659 even. He passed Stephen Gladyszak of Chelsea, Mass., with 653.07 (91.00 better). Moving up a notch to ninth is Lawrence Sherman of San Diego with 651.24 (98.46 improved). Joining the list in tenth position is Stephen Cooper of Belle Mead, N.J., with 644.25.

          Another familiar name, Dolores Aquino of Houston, sits at #11 with 643.89. Judy Rothstein of Livingston, N.J., who was No. 1 back in April, now is #13 with 616.68 after a 67.25 month. As mentioned above, our Unit 116 reps, John and Martha Welte, are #59 and #60. The list stops at 197.94.         

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. Gold Life Masters. 

A change at the top. A month ago, Hal Jones Jr. of Lorton, Va., was 21 points behind of Stephen Donohue of Riverwoods, Ill. Now he’s 26-plus in front with 660.04 after a 105.99 burst. Donohue has 633.67, having accumulated just 57.82.

          Continuing third is Piotr Olszewski of Hackettstown, N.J., with 563.22 after a 43.96 month. Yacob (Jacob) Rubinstien of Holland, Pa., sits where Buffalonians John and Martha Welte were a month ago – fourth – with 529.93, which is 108.61 better than June.

          Also passing the Weltes are June Patton of Brevard, N.C., with 484.35 (a 66.20 improvement), and Mark Crumrine of Ocala, Fla., with 465.24 (73.04 better). John Welte now occupies seventh place with 454.27 (a 27.34 month), and Martha’s eighth with 453.99 (a 27.06 effort).

          Rounding out the Top 10 are last month’s arrivals in the charmed circle – Ronald Vickery of Oro Valley, Ariz., with 361.82 (54.67 better) and Paul Burleson of Cross River, N.Y., with 350.92 (up 44.13).

          Looking for more Buffalonians, we find the usual suspects. Ken Meier is #151 with 144.09. He’s up from #195. Allen Beroza is #398 with 92.95. He’s down from #331. And there’s David Millward at #411 with 91.19. He’s down from #397. 

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. All Players. 

          Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., has become the first and so far the only player to reach four figures this year. He’s got 1,202.57 here after his third straight 200-plus month – 244.06, to be exact.

          That puts him even further ahead of second-place Irva Neyhart of Portland, Ore. She checks in with 830.44, having collected 152.06.

          Meanwhile, Vera Carpenter of York, Ont., takes third place from another Canadian, Mel Norton of Burlington, Ont. She now has 762.02 (123.55 better), while Norton holds 740.41 (an 87.97 improvement).

          Continuing fifth and sixth are Milton Neher of Richardson, Texas, and Stephen Gladyszak of Chelsea, Mass. Neher has 712.94 (up 86.83) and Gladyszak has 711.23 (plus 94.40).

          Breaking onto the list in seventh place is John Brady of Jacksonville, Fla. He has 698.74. He’s accompanied by another newcomer, Stephen Cooper of Belle Mead, N.J., who has 683.97.

          Lynn Leisy of Amelia Island, Fla., who joined the Top 10 a month ago in eighth place, now occupies ninth with 673.14 despite having a more than respectable 107.50 month. Gold Life Master leader Hal Jones Jr. rounds out the list in tenth place with his 660.03.

          The fallen are collecting themselves in the mid-teens. Stephen Donohue of Riverwoods, Ill., who was seventh, is #14 with 633.67 (plus 57.82). David Rosenblatt of Palmetto Bay, Fla., who was ninth, is #15 with 632.17 (up 68.11). And then there’s April’s nationwide leader, Judy Rothstein of Livingston, N.J. Tenth a month ago, she now can be found at #16 with 618.58, having accumulated 57.25.

          Vera Carpenter’s husband, Rashid Khan, holds steady at #20 with 587.83, after a 74.83 month. The Weltes? John is #50 with 454.27. Martha’s #51 with 453.99. A month ago they were tied for #34. No other Buffalonians on this list. It cuts off at 212.96