After starting 2026 with three tough sets, April turned out to be the most difficult so far, with less than 4% of competition entrants scoring in the 70s. Kudos to all five competitors who made the April Honour Roll, as they all outscored the entire panel, where the top score was only 76/80. Our solo winner this month, with a score of 79/80, finished second in the 2025 annual competition:
Alexander Cook from Australia
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.
Also on the April Honour Roll, with a score of 78/80, are:
Brian Spears from UK,
Kevin Podsiadlik from USA, and
Stephen Merriman from New Zealand
And, with a score of 77/80:
Yury Khyuppenen from Russia
This win makes it the third consecutive year in which Alexander has won a monthly competition. Just one point behind the Australian this month, Brian led the 2026 annual competition after three months and he will obviously retain his place atop the table. The other three member of the April Honour Roll were in the Top 30 after three months and will move up in the standings after this excellent performance.
Congratulations to all who scored more than 60/80 on what was the trickiest set of hands so far this year.
