The October set proved to be very tough, with barely 3% of competition entrants returning scores in the 70s. November was almost as difficult, with under 5% breaking the 70/80 mark. We went into December with seven players within 5 points on the lead. Although there was some exchanging of places amongst the contenders, those same seven are still covered by just a 5-point spread.
We do have a new leader, though. 75/80 this month gives Australia’s Alexander Cook a 2-point advantage ahead of a four-way tie for second place.
Alexander has been playing competitive bridge for more than 20 years. He is a versatile bidder, playing four systems with four partners - Standard American, 2-over-1, a strong club variant based on the original Polish Club; and Standard Modern Precision. He is a perennial contender in the Australian Bridge Magazine bidding forum, and he is also a former winner of our annual competition.
Stephen’s second-place finish this month, with 77/80, moves him up into a four-way tie for second place with Dave, Paul and Dror. Brian is two points further back, and Venkatesh one behind him. However, a small difference in their weakest score, which they are looking to drop, could prove crucial. Alexander, Dave, Paul and Brian all have a 73 to drop. Dror and Stephen have a 72, and Venkatesh a 70 (which effectively moves him into a tie with those in second place, assuming he improves on that weakest score in the final month). All to play for.
Just behind the leaders, Dr. Morrie Kleinplatz from Canada moves up into the Top 10 behind Americans Todd Holes and Paul Dubois. USA have three representatives in that group. There are also two from the UK, and one each from Australia, Israel, India, New Zealand and Canada. Good luck to all of them in the final set.
Just outside the Top 10, England’s Jon Green (72/80 in November) and Nao Tabata from France (75/80), jump up a number of places into 12th and 13th respectively. You need a nine-score tally of 633 (70.5/80 average) to make the first page of the leader-board (Top 25). A remarkable 34 players have a nine-month total of 630 or more, averaging at least 70/80 for their best nine scores. What an outstanding level of bidding from so many competition entrants.
The annual score is the total of the best 9 monthly scores over the year.
