This proved to be the toughest set of the year so far, with only 42 competition entrants (out of almost 1,400, so barely 3%) scoring in the 70s. A score of 77/80 led the panel on this set, and only two competitors managed to better that score. The solo winner of the October competition, with a score of 79/80:
Koushik Mukherjee from India
Also on the October Honour Roll, finishing just a point off the lead for the second consecutive month, with a score of 78/80:
Gabrielle Kamil from USA
Gabrielle is a professional bridge player, who also volunteers as a cheating investigator for the ACBL and EDGAR. She says, “Classical bidding and robot bridge are my passions.”
And, with a score of 77/80:
Simon Mostyn from UK
Koushik gives India it’s fourth winner this year. USA has two wins, with nine other countries each claiming one win (or joint win).
A rather sparse honor roll this month, with a logjam of players scoring 76/80 and 75/80 right behind them. Top scores this month include three previous winners, Luwen Koh from Singapore on 76, Dave Williams from Wales and Alexander Cook from Australia, both with 75. Remarkably, despite the difficulty of this set, nine of the top ten players on the annual competition leader-board scored in the 70s.
Congratulations to all who broke the 60/80 barrier on this difficult set.
