In the May competition, 23 competition entrants outscored the entire panel, with close to 5% scoring in the 70s. This month, on what looks to be a marginally more difficult set of hands, the number scoring 70/80 or higher was 4.55% (just 61 out of 1340). An exclusive group of nine scored higher than any panelist, and those nine are led by June’s solo winner, with a score of 79/80:
Jim Streisand from USA
Jim is a long-time participant in this competition. A 69-year-old from Wayland, MA, he rarely plays live bridge these days, favouring online tournaments with robots. He has led the field before, with a perfect 80/80 score in the October 2023 competition.
Also on the June Honour Roll, with a score of 78/80, are:
Jon Green from UK
And, with a score of 77/80:
Ross Davis from Australia
And, with a score of 76/80:
David Williams from Wales,
Brian Spears from England,
Erdem Ozturk from Türkiye,
Prahalad Rajkumar from India,
Steven de Donder from Belgium, and
Julian Wightwick from England
An American leads the field for the second consecutive month, which means that 50% of the 2026 monthly winners or co-winners are from the USA. With four of them in the Top 10 on the leader-board, what chance a first American winner of the annual competition this year?
The Brits might have something to say about that. Both Brian and David, currently in first and second place respectively at the midway point of the 2026 competition, make the Roll of Honour again this month.
