The Top Bidders for Set 2021-11

We have a three-way tie this month, each with a score of 76/80. All three are regular entrants and are in the upper echelons of the annual competition leaderboard.

Ian Findlay (BBO: findles) from Banff AL, Canada
Luwen Koh (BBO: XReborned) from Singapore
Dave Williams (BBO: dave251164) from Wales

Ian is a 61-year old, retired computer programmer living in Banff, Alberta, in the Rocky Mountains. He admits that his first love was chess, and he most recently won the 2018 Canadian Seniors (over 50). However, due to the pandemic, he has switched his focus to bridge over the past couple of years.

Luwen lives in Singapore. He learned to play bridge twelve years ago as a junior college student, and he recently qualified as a World Bridge Federation Assistant Tournament Director.

Congratulations to all of them who win 50 BB$ and a 1 month subscription to Prime!

But remember, we also randomly drew a winner from among the participants and…. tadaaaaa the winner is:

Patricia (ennever1)

Congratulations to Patricia (ennever1) who wins a 3 month subscription to Prime!

Also on the October ‘Roll of Honor’:

with a score of 74/80, are:

Douglas Schmickrath (BBO: P0STM0RTEM) from San Francisco CA

and, with a score of 73/80

Hanoi Rondon (BBO: hanoi5) from Santiago, Chile

GjivoTikvica (BBO: KhazadDoom) from Dubrovnik, Croatia

Simon Edwards from Pimpyhat, Wales

Honourable mentions also go to those who score at least 60/80:

72/80:	Peter Law (BBO: PETELAW) from Broadstairs, Kent, England
71/80:	Alexander Cook (BBO: spade7) from Australia and
	Barbara Giesbrecht (BBO: BabsG) from Qualicum Beach BC, Canada
70/80:	Alex Green (bbo: galexy) from Australia
69/80:	Maciek Macieszczak (BBO: 1cola) from Raszyn, Poland and
	Patrick Shields (BBO: patricks) from Cheltenham, England
68/80:	Dorin Costin (BBO: Tudicool) from Vancouver BC, Canada
67/80:	Milko Slavov (BBO: milko_sl) from Varna, Bulgaria and
	Earle Ferguson (BBO: Fergus) from Halifax NS, Canada
66/80:	Anne-Sybil Bragadir (BBO: asb10) from Lausanne, Switzerland
65/80:	Laura Mancini (BBO: 801dna) from Paris, France
64/80:	Tamas Barczy (BBO: tamas9) from Hungary
62/80:	T.J. Alexander (BBO: TJ5) from Bangalore, India,
	Zbigniew Hylaszek (BBO: tuzbysiu) from Poland,
	Kresten Sandager Kristensen (BBO: kesse) from Copenhagen, Denmark,
	Rishabh Singh (BBO: rishabh) from San Jose CA, USA and
	Raj Agarwal (BBO: badesh) from Cambridge MA, USA
61/80:	Karle Joys (BBO: KJOY) from Dartmouth NS, Canada
60/80:	Levent Dinçel (BBO: twixxx) from Turkey and
	Michael van Gulik (BBO: Bananatree) from Canada

Congratulations to all who made it onto the honors’ board.

Whoever tops the Annual Leaderboard this year will win 200 BB$! So get into this month’s hands to participate!

Annual competition leaders (after 11 months)

With just one month remaining, it is looking like a two-horse race for the title, with Luwen holding a 9-point lead over Hanoi. However, with Hanoi’s lowest remaining score is 9 points lower than Luwen’s so, if the two return the same score next month, they will finish in a dead heat. There are still three others who can mathematically win: Fergus, Dave and Douglas are long-odds outsiders for the title. With a perfect 80/80 next month, Dave can get to 632, Fergus to 627 and Douglas to 625, whilst the top two need only 71 to total 633 and ensure a top two place.

Whilst the top two are just about guaranteed a place in the top three for South America and Asia, whilst the third medal is a battle between North America and Europe. Ian needs a fairly large swing to overtake Fergus as the leading Canadian. Douglas, who is the only American representative in the Top 10, can overtake Fergus by outscoring him by 3. Dave is in the strongest position, though, and can ensure a podium place with a score of 76 or higher, so all to play for still.

Dave is certain to finish as the highest-placed European. Sybil and Milko are currently tied in the race to finish second in that race. The Bulgarian has the narrowest of advantages as he will finish one point ahead if the two return identical scores in Round 12. Patrick could still go past them both, though, as he currently has only eight counting scores, so his entire score will be added to his tally next month.

The leaderboard includes all players with at least seven scores who are averaging more than 50/80. With more than 500 players entering the competition this year, these are the top 30 scores, so congratulations to everyone who makes the leaderboard. A special mention goes to those who made the leaderboard with less than nine scores. Had they entered every month and maintained their average score, they would have been contenders for the title. We hope that many more players will make a point of entering every month in next year’s contest.

Luwen Koh (BBO: XReborned) from Singapore	623 (61)
Hanoi Rondon (BBO: hanoi5) from Santiago, Chile	614 (52)
Earle Ferguson (BBO: Fergus) from Halifax NS, Canada	608 (61)
Dave Williams (BBO: dave251164) from Wales	607 (55)
Douglas Schmickrath (BBO: P0STM0RTEM) from San Francisco CA	600 (55)
Ian Findlay (BBO: findles) from Banff AL, Canada	593 (60)
Milko Slavov (BBO: milko_sl) from Varna, Bulgaria	572 (54)
Anne-Sybil Bragadir (BBO: asb10) from Lausanne, Switzerland	572 (55)
Barbara Giesbrecht (BBO: BabsG) from Qualicum Beach BC, Canada	564 (51)
Kresten Sandager Kristensen (BBO: kesse) from Copenhagen, Denmark	564 (57)
GjivoTikvica(BBO: KhazadDoom) from Dubrovnik, Croatia	563 (53)
Thomas Gardner (BBO: thomasg_16) from England	562 (51)
Bradley Johnston (BBO: Nohk) from Dunedin, New Zealand	550 (54)
Harry Gordon (BBO: hflsh) from Lexington KY, USA	542 (53)
Csaba Daday (BBO: gwnn) from Gottingen, Germany	538 (46)
Patrick Shields (BBO: patricks) from Cheltenham, England	522*
Peter Law (BBO: PETELAW) from Broadstairs, Kent, England	521**
Stephen Kwan (BBO: sk1958) from Canada	515 (49)
Tony Burt (BBO: Tone999) from Vancouver BC, Canada	513 (53)
Peter Hudson (BBO: p_t_red) from Coppell TX, USA	512 (51)
Judy Morissette (BBO: juju4) from Saint Colomban PQ, Canada	501 (46)
Raj Agarwal (BBO: badesh) from Cambridge MA, USA	501 (48)
Paul Dubois (BBO: Pottsca) from El Cajon CA, USA	495 (41)
Karle Joys (BBO: KJOY) from Dartmouth NS, Canada	490 (43)
Kathrine Loh (BBO: nicnat) from Walnut Creek CA, USA	472 (47)
Maciek Macieszczak (BBO: 1cola) from Raszyn, Poland	463**
Ashot Harutyunyan (BBO: ashoth_14) from Montreal PQ, Canada	446 (42)
Alexander Cook (BBO: spade7) from Australia	443**
Jarek Langer (BBO: jarek444) from Austin TX, USA	427**
Rishabh Singh (BBO: rishabh) from San Jose CA, USA	418**

Remember that only your best nine results during the year count towards the annual competition, so entering every month will allow you to drop your lowest scores. Players with an asterisk (*) have only eight counting scores so far, and with ** have only seven counting scores.

Compare your results with the panel

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	TOTAL
Andrew ROBSON	3	Dbl	4	6	4NT	4	3	Pass	79
David BIRD	Pass	Dbl	4	6	4	Pass	3	Pass	75
Tim COPE	3	Pass	4	6	6NT	Pass	3	Pass	75
Jessica LARSSON	3	Dbl	4	6	4	4	2NT	Pass	74
Wen Fei WANG	3	Dbl	4	6	4NT	Pass	3	3	74
Sally BROCK	3	6	4	6	3NT	Pass	3	Pass	73
Zia MAHMOOD	3	6	4	6	4NT	4	3	Pass	73
Hanoi RONDON	4	Dbl	4	5	3	4	3	Pass	73
Barnet SHENKIN	3	6	4	6	3NT	Pass	3	Pass	73
Daniel LAVEE	3	6	4	6	3	4	3	3	70
Janice MOLSON	3	6	4	Pass	6NT	4	3	Pass	70
Paul MARSTON	3	6	4	Pass	3NT	Pass	3	Pass	69
Jill MEYERS	Pass	Pass	3	6	3	4	3	Pass	68
Gabriel CHAGAS	Dbl	Pass	3	5	5NT	4	3	Pass	65
Laura MANCINI	Pass	6	3	5	3	Pass	2NT	Pass	65
Sjoert BRINK	Dbl	Dbl	5	6	4NT	Pass	3	3	63
Larry COHEN	3NT	6	4	Pass	4	4NT	3	Pass	60
TOP SCORES	3	Dbl	4	6	4NT	Pass	3	Pass

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