The September set was relatively high-scoring, and more than half of those on the first page of the annual competition leader-board scored in the 70s. A second consecutive place on the monthly honour roll sees Dror opening up a 5-point lead at the top. Brian moves up into second place, and Dave matches Dror’s 78/80 to push Alexander off the podium by 1 point.
A 42-year-old lawyer from Jerusalem, Dror is married with a son and two daughters. He says, “I have been very fortunate to have my father, Asher, as a bridge partner, and I am thankful for his continued guidance and support”. A model of consistency, Dror retakes the lead even though he has still not won a monthly competition this year. He was the solo winner of the August 2024 competition, and a co-winner in September.
All but one of the Top 10 after eight months scored in the 70s on this set. England’s Alan Mayo’s 72/80 moves him up into the Top 10 with nine months gone. Alon drops out of the Top 10 with a score that will be the first to be dropped next month, so we may well see him bounce back. Look out, too, for England’s Graham Hazel and India’s Koushik Mukherjee (both averaging over 70), and a couple of others who missed a month earlier in the year. They will all jump into contention next month, when they will have the same nine qualifying scores as everyone else.
After nine months, the number of players averaging at least 70/80 or higher from nine sets drops by one, to 15. Still very impressive. You currently need a score of 621 to make it onto the first page of the leader-board, which means an average of 69/80. What a remarkably high standard is being set by this year’s leading competitors.
Numerically, Americans lead the way with six competitors in the Top 25. There are also five Brits, and two each from Belgium and Russia. Ten other countries also have a competitor on the first page of the leader-board.
The annual score is the total of the best 9 monthly scores over the year.
