RealBridge

RealBridge Bidding Contest - December 2024 Rankings

This set was something of an enigma. The average score (55.86/80) was one of the highest of the year, but it was also a set on which it was easy to drop marks in chunks, as many hands scored 10-6-5 or 10-7-5 rather than 10-9-8. Half of the panel returned a total of less than 70/80 with some scoring in the 50s. Just over 5% of competitors returned scores in the 70s, so congratulations to all of them. We have three join winners this month, with an impressive score of 79/80:

 

Yasser Ali Adel Abd Ellatif from Egypt,
M Humayun Khan from Pakistan, and
Nigel Kearney from New Zealand

 

nigel-kearney

Nigel is a 54-year old software developer from Wellington. He was a member of the silver medal winning New Zealand team at the 1995 Junior World Championships in Bali, and he has also represented his country at open level. He is currently a national selector and coach. His preferred system is 2/1 with a weak notrump.

 

Also on the December Honour Roll, with a score of 78/80, are:

 

Nao Tabata from France,
Ross Shine from UK,
Bas Groot from Netherlands, and
Michael Schneider from Germany

 

And, with a score of 77/80:

 

Dr Morrie Kleinplatz from Canada,
Bill Wisdom from USA,
Fred Lerner from Canada, and
Pär Ol-Mårs from Sweden

 

Continuing to emphasize the international nature of this competition, Pakistan becomes the 16th country to produce a player who wins or ties for the win during 2024. For the second month running, Egypt has a player at top of the podium. It is also fitting that a Kiwi should also be amongst the winners in this final month of a year in which New Zealanders have dominated the competition.

Two Canadians join players from nine other countries on this month’s Honor Roll. Dr Klienplatz’s score of 77/80 leapfrogs him into the Top 25 and he is the leading Canadian in this year’s competition. His annual total of 630 makes him the 23rd player with an average score of 70/80 or higher over his best nine scores.

With only around 5% scoring in the 70s, congratulations are due to all those scoring in the 60s or 70s on this tricky set of hands.

 

Top 25

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