eBridge Cup 2026: The Best of Virtual and Live Bridge
One year after the first edition, which had already marked the history of online bridge, the eBridge Cup returned from May 1 to August 19, 2026. Still conjointly held by Funbridge and Bridge Base Online (BBO), with support from the World Bridge Federation (WBF) and the ACBL.
Over 10,700 participants, 112 nationalities, a prize money of $30,000, and for the very first time, a live final. For its second edition, not only has the eBridge Cup grown, but its essence has changed too!
Key figures
🥇Michał Wróbel – 🥈Paweł Wittenbeck – 🥉Bernhard Bussek
What’s new in 2026
Three major changes have transformed the competition.
1) Face-to-face final
Undoubtedly, the most dramatic change. In 2025, the eBridge Cup was 100% online. In 2026, the final stage took place at real tables in Katowice, Poland, in the exact same venue where the WBF World Bridge Series were being held.
52 players qualified to the live final, while 180 other finalists played simultaneously online. This unique bridge between the two worlds of bridge—the screens and the green cloths—gave the event a new dimension and created new emotions. Qualifying from your couch in May to make it to the World Bridge Series venue in August, that’s exactly what the eBridge Cup promised and made.
MCK International Congress Center, Katowice
2) Two paths for you to shine
After the qualifying round, the 55% (MPs) threshold was used to separate players:
Open (score≥55 %): the main path, with 84 tournaments available in semifinals and a final on August 18-19
Challenger (score<55 %): a secondary and comprehensive path, with 112 tournaments available in semifinals and its own online final on July 25-26
This is not a consolation prize, and that makes all the difference. The Challenger final offered cash prizes. Its top 2 players won their ticket to Katowice, and the top 30 won access to the online Open final. In other words, everyone played at their level without being prevented from reaching the summit of the eBridge Cup!
3) Boosted prizes
The prize pool increased from $15,000 in 2025 to $30,000 in 2026, the winner of the live final in Katowice receiving the first prize of $10,000.
National bridge federations also awarded points and titles, and every participant playing at least two tournaments received a 3-month subscription to Bridgerama+ for free.
Well done to the 2026 champions!
This edition was special in that it crowned several winners since the Open big final, which brought together the best players in the competition, was played simultaneously in two different places on August 18-19: at the tables in Katowice for the best 52 qualified players, and online for the other finalists.
Ahead of this event, the Challenger final, run 100% online, included the top-ranked players from the Challenger path.
Online Challenger final — July 25-26
The first final of the edition on the calendar, and undoubtedly the one that best captures the spirit of 2026. Held entirely online, it followed the same format as the Open final: Day 1 on BBO, Day 2 on Funbridge, with the final rankings based on the average score across both platforms.
At the end of these two days, Evelyne Bureau, Bernhard Bussek and Marc Grandemange emerged at the top of the 200 Challenger finalists with very high scores: an average of nearly 63% for the Swiss player! The top two players therefore secured the two qualifying places for the live final in Katowice, alongside the best players in the Open category. A 100% online journey, which began with simple qualifying tournaments in May, culminating at a table in a major in-person event: that’s exactly what the new format promised.
Behind them, the next 30 players joined the 150 finalists who had already qualified to compete in the online Open final on August 18-19. In other words, the whole top 32 from the Challenger path entered the final phase of the main event.
Live Open final — Katowice, August 18-19
🥇 Michał Wróbel
🥈 Paweł Wittenbeck
🥉 Bernhard Bussek
On home soil, Poland stood out by securing the first two places. Michał Wróbel came out on top ahead of his compatriot Paweł Wittenbeck after two days of remarkable consistency. He was one of the few finalists to exceed 55% on both platforms, whereas many of his rivals excelled on one but failed on the other.
The podium also tells a nice story of continuity. Bernhard Bussek, who qualified for the Open final thanks to his second place in the Challenger final and who won the first edition in 2025, finished third. To confirm his performance at the highest level one year after his title, in a completely revamped format and this time in head-to-head matches, speaks volumes about the German player’s consistency.
Just behind them, the top 10 perfectly illustrates the event’s international DNA: Giuseppe Delle Cave (Italy), Yoram Aviram (Israel), Tomasz Twaróg (Poland), Funbridge ambassador Milan Macura (Czech Republic, 7th), Graham Hazel (United Kingdom), Ugis Jansons (Latvia) and Mehmet Şakirler (Turkey).
Online Open final — August 18-19
Held in parallel with the Katowice event, the online final attracted 146 players and produced an even closer result: just seven tenths of a point separated the Norwegian winner, Kristoffer Hegge Berg, from his Turkish runner-up, Fikri Ugur, and barely one point separated first place from fourth. Five players finished with an average of over 57%! Andreas Meister (Denmark) completed the podium.
For those who want to relive the eBridge Cup final from a more technical perspective, a second article will be published with hand analyses, explanations of bidding choices and commentary from several experts.
A world success
More than 10,700 players participated in this second edition, that is nearly 20% more in just one year.
At the tables in Katowice as well as in online rankings, you could find players from 112 countries: Poland, Italy, Israel, Czech Republic, UK, Latvia, Turkey, Australia, Estonia, USA, France, Taiwan, Romania, Greece, Germany, China, Denmark, Sweden… and dozens of other countries in the online final, from Japan to Colombia, through Indonesia, India, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.
We’ve seen players coming from all backgrounds, connected from all around the globe, ready to compete and share together a unique bridge experience.
The 5 most represented countries
On the French side, there was a strong presence until the last day: Dominique Fonteneau competed in the live final in Katowice, as did Marc Grandemange—winner of the eCup2 2025—, who turned his second-chance win in the qualifiers into a spot at the venue in Poland. In the online final, Luc Bellicaud (8th) and Béatrice Soulayrol (10th) finished brilliantly in the top 10.
Conclusion
In 2025, the eBridge Cup proved that a global bridge event can happen entirely online.
In 2026, it proved something else—that this online competition can also make things real, find its place on the international bridge calendar, and attract players from all around the world online or face-to-face.
The two-category format is a responce to the most legitimate criticism about any open competition: how do you make it appealing to a club player to compete against world champions? By offering them a dedicated journey, with its own prizes, and an open door to the summit if they perform well.
The eBridge Cup is here to stay on the international bridge scene. Whether you played all qualifying tournaments or only one night just to give it a go, you were part of this moment!
See you in 2027 for a new edition full of surprises and improved thanks to your feedback!
Danny and Natalia, American finalists in Katowice
And for those who want to extend the adventure further and understand how the final positions in the rankings were decided, an article about the most memorable boards from the eBridge Cup 2026 is available on the Funbridge blog.
