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Home News Poland sees success in bridge while Germany controls the chess board as the FISU Championship Mind Sports concludes

Poland sees success in bridge while Germany controls the chess board as the FISU Championship Mind Sports concludes

16 October 2026

After an intense week of competition at the Liaocheng 2026 FISU World University Championship Mind Sports, the medalists have been awarded.

The Arcadia International Hot Spring Hotel has been the host site in Liaocheng with 21 nations and over 200 athletes competing in bridge and chess over six days of competition.

chess

In the Women’s Classical Germany’s Jana Schneider prevailed, claiming the gold medal. She led the competition through much of the week ultimately finishing with 7.5 points. There was a four-way tie for second place on 6.5 points and through the tie-break procedure, Lucia Ševčíková of Slovakia won silver with the 2024 fourth place finisher Liwia Jarocka of Poland taking bronze.

Pang Tao, from the People’s Republic of China, took gold on home soil winning the Men’s Classical event with 7 points. Pang had stayed in first and second place throughout the event before taking sole possession of first place in the ninth and final round. Germany’s Luis Engel, with whom Pang had battled for top spot all week, claimed silver, while Stepan Hrbek of Czechia, who was tied in 19th place through round three, steadily climbed from there to win bronze.

In the Classical final team standings, Germany stood in first place with the People’s Republic of China second, and Poland third.

In Women’s Blitz, Yan Tianqi of the People’s Republic of China finished on 8 points to win gold. Svenja Butenandt of Germany, who had held sole possession of first place from rounds three through six, was ultimately caught by Yan and finished with 7 points for silver. Malaysia’s Puteri Azhar settled into third place in round six and never relinquished it resulting in a bronze medal.

On the men’s side in Blitz competition, 8 points was enough to give the gold to Augustin Droin of France. He was alone in top spot from starting in round 5. Luis Engel of Germany won his second silver of the competition to go with his one from Classical, and fellow German Tobias Kölle steadily climbed the standings through competition to win bronze.

The team standings for the Blitz competition mirrored those from Classical as Germany came out on top, with the People’s Republic of China in second, and third belonging to Poland.

bridge

It was a very strong week for Poland as they took gold in the Men’s, Women’s and Open Team events. In the men’s event, they finished with 270.05 Victory Points (VP), ahead of silver medal winning Hungary and their 228.25 VP. Hong Kong, China finished just behind the Hungarians and took the bronze medal with 227.13 VP.

  • Representing Poland in the Men’s Team event:
  • Krzysztof Cichy
  • Aleks Bukat
  • Wojciech Bąk
  • Kacper Kopka
  • Kacper Kuflowski
  • Franciszek Kurlit

On the women’s side, 191.25 Victory Points was the Polish total for their gold medal winning performance, with the People’s Republic of China finishing with 162.83 VP to take silver and Thailand bronze with 87.60 VP.

  • Representing Poland in the Women’s Team event:
  • Magdalena Kapała
  • Milena Gryzło
  • Natalia Suszanowicz
  • Matylda Brzyzka
  • Zofia Trojan
  • Łucja Ciborowska

France won gold in the Mixed Team event totaling 247.48 VP. The People’s Republic of China took their second medal in bridge competition with 204.31 VP while Germany finished third with 198.16 VP.

  • France’s gold medal winning Mixed Team:
  • Clément Fragola Jarjaille
  • Maxence Roches
  • Elise Nugues-Blouvac
  • Costa Gioka Ben Guigui

The Open Team title, with the same medalists as in their men’s victory, was Poland’s third of the competition winning with 270.05 VP ahead of silver medal winning France and their 247.48 VP. The bronze medal went to Hungary which finished with 228.25 VP.

Images from Liaochang 2026 FISU Championship Mind Sports

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Click here to access photos and highlights and here to get all the final results from Liaocheng.

More event information is available on the event’s official website and on its social media outlets, Instagram and Facebook.

And also on FISU’s social media outlets, Instagram and Facebook.

Coming up next in the busy FISU Championship and FISU Cup season is the Macao 2026 FISU University World Cup 3×3 Basketball from 23-25 October. Event details can be found on the official event website and on Facebook.

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