The Best Deals from the eBridge Cup
Contents
- Qualifiers: Can You Bid Like Julien Bernard?
- Semifinals: Dominique Fonteneau’s Incredible Endplay
- Final: The Opening Bid That Cost Bernhard Bussek Dearly
- Inside the Mind of Michał Wróbel, eBridge Cup Champion
Nearly 11,000 players took part in the 2026 eBridge Cup. After several months of competition online on BBO and Funbridge, the best of them met on August 18 and 19 in Katowice, Poland, for a live final won by Michał Wróbel. A look back at this edition and a meeting with its winner.
Qualifiers: Can You Bid Like Julien Bernard?
On Funbridge, the qualifications took place from May 1 to 31, 2026 and brought together 4,580 players (10,700 players registered across both Funbridge and BBO platforms).
The overall ranking was based on each participant’s ten best results. With an average of 71.4%, Pikarek took first place, tied with Norway’s Kvan. VBRK completed the podium with 71%.
Several players well known to the Funbridge community stood out during this first stage: Alexis Maugat (creator of Argine, Funbridge’s AI) finished 5th with 69.4%. Julien Bernard (French Open team) finished 8th with 68.8%, after only 18 tournaments (as the overall ranking only takes the top 10 results into account, most players completed a very large number of tournaments across both platforms!), while Jérôme Rombaut (French Open team and Funbridge ambassador) finished 16th with 68%.
Your turn to play!
Here is a fun deal selected by Julien Bernard, French world champion.
Pay close attention to the bidding, because no one managed to play the same contract as him!
Semifinals: Dominique Fonteneau’s Incredible Endplay
The Open semifinals played on Funbridge then brought together 813 players.
Poland’s Tomasz Twaróg, playing under the username TomekT, won this stage with an average of 69.1%. He narrowly edged out Pikarek, second with 69%, and Germany’s Peter Splettstoesser, alias Bloedi, third with 68.9%. Already the winner of the Funbridge qualifications, Pikarek once again confirmed his consistency by finishing among the platform’s top players.
The future Katowice podium was also beginning to take shape. Paweł Wittenbeck finished 6th with 68.5%, while future winner Michał Wróbel, playing under the username Michal1987, qualified by taking 10th place with 68%.
Among the French players, Dominique Fonteneau delivered the best performance with a 7th-place finish and a score of 68.3%.
A teacher and creator of the French Masterclasses, Dominique is one of the most recognized voices in French-speaking bridge. His best deal of the eBridge Cup:
I remember a deal where I was declarer in the fabulous contract of 1♠ in a 4-3 fit.
At the second-to-last trick, I deliberately have to play a ruff and discard (there is one trump left in each hand, the Ace is behind my King and my other trump is the 2).
If he ruffs, I overruff with the King, which is then overruffed by the Ace… and dummy’s 2 of spades scores through a dummy reversal! And if East does not ruff, I discard my Diamond in South and West is forced to ruff with the Ace.
An ending I had never encountered before… for a clear top!
Other well-known figures from the Funbridge community included Timour Khachtchevatsky, Yoram Aviram, Milan Macura, Lovelyyou9, B.B.C. and Cuber.
Final: The Opening Bid That Cost Bernhard Bussek Dearly
For the first time, the final stage of the eBridge Cup was played in person. The top players from the Open semifinals were joined by the top two finishers from the Challenger Final at the International Congress Centre in Katowice. 51 players ultimately took part in this grand final.
The finalists played 120 deals over two days, August 18 and 19, with five sessions of 12 deals per day. Some of the deals were played on BBO and the others on Funbridge. The overall ranking was calculated from the average obtained across both platforms.
Michał Wróbel wins the final on home soil
At the end of the two days of competition, Michał Wróbel, alias Michal1987, emerged victorious with a combined average of 56% (55.1% on BBO and 56.9% on Funbridge). This victory earned him the first prize of $10,000.
His compatriot Paweł Wittenbeck took second place with an average of 54.9%, confirming Poland’s dominance in this home final.
Defending German champion Bernhard Bussek completed the podium with 54.6%. He finished level with Italy’s Giuseppe Delle Cave, but retained third place after the tiebreak was applied.
Your turn!
Here is a tricky deal played by Bernhard Bussek, the 2025 winner and 2026 bronze medallist.
Will your choice of opening bid help you avoid the mistake that cost him a higher place on the podium?
Inside the Mind of Michał Wróbel, eBridge Cup Champion
A professional player and coach, Michał Wróbel notably works with the Polish national Under-26 and Under-31 teams.
In 2023, he took part in the first stages of an online competition organized on BBO. After finishing first among more than 5,000 players, he won a trip to the World Championships in Marrakech. He then went on to win the silver medal with his Polish team, Slow Horse.
Three years later, he looks back on his journey and his victory in the 2026 eBridge Cup.
How did you experience this new edition of the eBridge Cup?
My experience of the eBridge Cup was very positive. Since the start of the qualifications, I have noticed growing worldwide interest in bridge competitions played with robots.
Given the extremely high standard and the participation of many very strong international players, I already considered simply reaching the live final in Katowice to be a huge success.
What did you think of the playing conditions in Katowice?
The final was organized in excellent conditions. Every player felt very welcome and well supported on site.
The playing conditions were also very good, particularly thanks to the use of new technologies such as tablets.
Here is a deal I played on Funbridge during the semifinals.
First, the bidding: I describe my 5-4 with a transfer followed by 3♣.
Argine opposite supports me at 3♥, showing a more encouraging hand than a bid of 4♥ (when you are in a game-forcing situation, jumping to game is less encouraging than showing the fit at the lowest possible level).
That is enough to make me play the slam in South with 14 points and a singleton.
In the play: with the Jack of Clubs third, two Spades are discarded on the Queen and 10 of Clubs.
I can then ruff a Spade in dummy with the remaining trump.
Was winning your goal from the very beginning?
The eBridge Cup final was a competition where I was facing some of the best players in the world, but for me, the most important thing was simply to enjoy the experience.
Bridge is my profession — I’m a player, coach and mentor — but I still believe that enjoying the game is what matters most, and that is something I try to do at every tournament.
And besides, the more we smile, the less our opponents want to beat us! 🙂
What does this victory on home soil mean to you?
Whenever a tournament takes place in my home country, it gives me even more motivation to win. Every athlete loves winning on home soil, especially when it is an international event.
So winning the eBridge Cup in Poland definitely made this victory even more special for me.
Did you adopt a different strategy on BBO and Funbridge? Which platform did you enjoy playing on the most?
From the beginning, my strategy was to play aggressively, while avoiding any major bluffs during the bidding. I stuck closely to the agreed system because I was confident in my declarer play.
I found it easier to play on Funbridge, mainly because I use the platform more often. I also feel that bidding with the robots is smoother there. That may also be reflected in my results: I scored 56.9% on Funbridge, compared with 55.1% on BBO.
On BBO, I had to be a little more creative, as the robot was sometimes less cooperative.
Your turn!
Here is a deal from our grand winner, on which he found the killer defense… it’s your turn to get creative!
As a professional bridge coach, what advice would you give to players who would like to take part in the next edition?
As a coach, I would give the same advice I share with young bridge players in Poland: when you play bridge, try to enjoy it as much as possible and don’t feel that you have to win at all costs.
The way you behave at the table, the respect you show to others, and the friendships you build through this beautiful game are far more important than the result.
What about you, did you take part in the eBridge Cup?
If you have a comment about this article or the competition itself, feel free to share it here!
And for those who would like to take a step back and discover the eBridge Cup 2026 from another perspective — participation, key figures, and highlights from this year’s edition — be sure to read our article “eBridge Cup 2026: The Best of Online and In-Person Bridge” on the Funbridge blog.
