We start the year with what seems to have been a very difficult set. 76/80 was the leading score on the panel, and less than half of panel members scored in the 70s, with some even scoring in the 50s.
Out of the 1350 entries for January, only six competitors managed to score 75/80 or higher. Leading the way with an impressive score of 78/80, is:
Erdem Öztürk from Türkiye
Erdem is 41 years old and lives in Istanbul. He started playing bridge as an 18-year-old student, and he was a member of Turkey’s team at the 2006 World University Teams Cup in Tianjin. More recently, he reached the Round of 16 of the Mixed Teams at the 2019 European Transnational Teams. He currently teaches bridge to both adults and kids, mostly online.
Also on the January Honour Roll, with a score of 77/80, is…
Luc Bellicaud from France
…and, with a score of 76/80…:
Stephen Merriman from New Zealand, and
Graham Hazel from UK
…and, with a score of 75/80…:
Christian Mari from France, and
Jim Streisand from USA
There are four previous monthly winners in that elite group – Luc, Stephen, Christian and Jim. Another noteworthy member of the group is Graham Hazel, who is the founder, CEO and main developer of our hosts, RealBridge.
Continuing to emphasize the international nature of this competition, we have players from five different countries and three continents on this month’s honour roll. In the 12 monthly competitions in 2024, there was a total of 28 winners or co-winners. They came from 17 different countries and five continents. (New Zealand led the way with four wins, Netherlands and France each producing three winners.) We open the 2025 competition with a winner from an 18th different country.
Only 52 players returned scores of 70/80 or higher on this set, which is less than 4% of players. On a difficult set, congratulations to everyone scoring in the 60s or above.
