The Top Bidders for Set 2022-11

A fairly high-scoring set this month, with an average score of 48.52, up from 44.87 last month. We also once again set a new record for entries, breaking last month’s standard of 3,244 by more than 300.

Leading the more than 3,700 BBO members who entered this month, we have a four-way tie for the win, with an impressive score of 79/80:

Alexander Cook (spade7) from Sydney, Australia

David Williams (dave251164) from Llangollen, Wales

Julian Wightwick (juliancb) from England and,

Stephen Merriman (smerriman) from New Zealand

Julian says, “I enjoy a decent club game at the Cambridge Bridge Club or online, and the occasional English National event with a sympathetic partner.”

Dave made the podium for the annual competition in 2021, finishing in third place. He was part of a three-way tie for the win in November last year, and this is his second victory this year. Now in his mid-50s, Dave originally trained as a mathematician but he recently retired after working for 21 years as a Youth Information and Advice Worker.

Stephen is a website developer who admits, “I have a guilty secret, in that while I've played online for many years, I've never been to a real life bridge club. I spend most of my bridge hours trying to reverse-engineer GIB's ‘thought’ process and how it could be improved, and posting in the BBO forums.”

Alexander has been playing competitive bridge for around 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 currently lying second in the Australian Bridge Magazine bidding forum and leading the 2022 BBO annual competition with just one month remaining.

Also on the October 'Roll of Honour':

With a score of 77/80:

Mohan Attaluri (mohan_hal) from India,

Carlo Romani (alextf45) from Italy and,

John Stell (johnworf1) from England

With more than 3,700 entries this month, you need to score 68/80 or more to make the November leader-board, and honourable mentions go to all of those who managed that:

The 2022 Annual Competition Leaders (after 11 months)

You need a running total of 495 (an average of 55 of more) to make the annual competition leader-board with just one month remaining, which means that about 100 players make the list.

The big winner this month is Alexander, whose 79/80 not only earns him a tie for the win in the monthly competition, but catapults him from third place to the top of the leader-board. Dave also scores 79/80, and he moves up into a tie for second place. The 2021 champion, Luwen, climbs up into a ties for fourth place alongside Ian. A 76/80 from Pete lifts him up into sixth spot. The two medallist from 2021, Hanoi, is in eighth.

With less than 20 points separating first and eighth, anyone in that group can still mathematically claim a podium place this year. It is highly commendable that all eight are averaging in excess of 71.5/80 over their best nine scores.

Any one of the top six can still finish as champion. With a 67 as his lowest counting score (Alexander has 70 as his and Dave 69) Francois is theoretically in poll position, as he can guarantee victory with a perfect 80/80 in December’s competition. However, Alexander’s two-point lead means that he will finish ahead of them both if he outscores them by 2 points. If they all fall short in any way, one of the chasing three could take the title in the run down the final straight. It’s all very tight, and everyone near the top of the leader-board is to be highly commended for their remarkably consistent performance throughout the year.