The 15th World Series was held in Žižkostel for the third consecutive year, featuring 25 truly top-class players of Smoking Cat. The season’s strongest clubs, KK and Midgard, each fielded four players, while Zia Mahmood and Dejv from Burning Cards were complete newcomers to the World Series. Animais de Sintra ended their season early, and bureaucratic issues prevented Gindraa and Sir Diamond from participating in the tournament, so the roster closed at 25 players.
The topic of the tournament was both vintage and contemporary hairstyles, and this time the players didn’t mind them at all. The Union should tighten the rules again—that’s my opinion, which may or may not be to everyone’s liking. On the other hand, I welcome the return of foreign referees, even though the many technical changes sometimes led to chaos.
The favorites on paper were, of course, the representatives of both top teams, but also all the players from Dashinchilen, as well as Blanche from Burning Cards, Schrott from Royal Vinohrady, and the traditionally strong players from San Diego Padres. Potential surprises could come from the likes of Polda—who is playing two leagues higher this year than a year ago—as well as the potential dark horse Mokele Mbembe, the sole representative of the African Cat at the tournament.
FACKA (=Slap)—HRNEC (=Pot)—JEŽEK (=Hedgehog)
The World Series 3 rounds were a very balanced tournament. None of the players scored below 50%, and a total of 20 of them scored over 70%. Paczessa posted a 100% round right off the bat and ultimately sailed through the entire preliminary stage with the best result (over 91%), deservedly taking the top spot at the final table. Anjelik kept pace with her for two rounds and ultimately advanced to the final with a Ježek badge for the round 3—even by renouncing. Former stars Kocour and Jooki played very solid games but had to settle for points outside the final table. They were prevented from reaching the final table by another veteran, Batbold, and this year’s two rising stars, Blanche and Polda. In contrast, the World Series ended in a complete fiasco for the ambitious Midgard; Oldin even played out of turn and ended up as the last player to receive a consolation prize at the awards ceremony, Maczka played lacklusterly, and Augustyn played out of turn. Only Niti maintained a very high standard, though in the final standings, it was only enough for an 11th-place placement outside the points. Midgard will have no representation at this year’s Masters, which is a major surprise. The British team Majesty Crown is currently struggling with inconsistent performances, and Marge isn’t doing well either. In contrast, Ruprecht’s performance is on the rise again in his second season since his return; he scored points at the SCWS once more and will be playing at his SEVENTH Masters.
MULLET
The final started off in typical Mongolian fashion, with Paczessa and Batbold letting their opponents pull ahead by two and three letters, respectively, but starting with the sixth game, they lost six out of eight games, and in the nineteenth game, Batbold was the first to leave the table. Paczessa was still leading at that point, but she, too, hit a brief slump, and in the end, the Mongolian triumph was limited to the World Series Team title, which Dashinchilen defended after 11 years.
Truly outstanding Blanche finished between fourth-place Paczessa and sixth-place Batbold this year. The winners’ positions were ultimately shared by Schrott in second and Polda in third, who is shattering not only his personal bests but also his club records—and if anyone has a chance to emulate the Latin American legend Vera, it’s this natural-born talent, whose style is simply unique. His bronze medal at the SCWS catapulted him to the top of the season standings, and the Player of the Year title is within his reach—a title that Blanche, in particular, will be eager to take away from him.
And finally, the winner. Anjelik was named Player of the Year in 2000 without winning a single tournament. He was then drafted by KK Bílá Hora, and since then he has been racking up medals from the Team Championship—a total of three gold and one bronze—won the Désert Dessert classic, and now his name will be engraved on the Smoking Cat’s biggest trophy of all. For the fourth time in a row, the Trophy remains in the hands of KK Bílá Hora—thanks to four different players! 2023 Jooki, 2024 Enotor, 2025 Kechup, and 2026 Anjelik…and before that, Jooki four more times (2013–2015 and 2018) and Pavel (2010). Fifteen seasons, nine SCWS trophies for a single club.
The season is reaching its peak
The combination of points and placement ultimately determined that, after some time, 12 players will once again compete in this year’s Masters; Jooki and Cdr Riker thus qualified for the final spots. Here are the top ten nominees, to whom Glide—as a member of the Team Championship-winning team and the best player of this tournament—will likely be added, along with the winner of GreenHorn Cat held after two years.
On November 11, the St. Martin’s GreenHorn tournament will take place, featuring up to 6 players from Burning Cards, currently the fastest-growing club.
The World Series had a fantastic atmosphere this year, and it’s a joy to be part of such sporting events.
Mahmood's First Podium / Jooki's Debacle / A Streak of Defeats
SeptemberFest, organized by the KK Bílá Hora and Smoking Chingiss Dashinchilen clubs at the Úl (Hive) arena in Prague 8—Ďáblice, drew a whole host of fans from Vietnam and the United Kingdom, who were given the chance to play in place of two players who had withdrawn—favorite Kerry and Fenho, a legend at the Hive arena. A total of five substitutes showed up, eager to play in the tournament (albeit without earning any points); if only it were like this every time!
Beautiful summer weather prevailed at the Désert Dessert 2026 open-air classic, held in the oasis, which, together with the wonders of Qatar, illuminated the 113th Smoking Cat tournament.
Glide and Schrott burned out. A first podium for Majestic Crown. African misery.
The first classic was hosted, in lovely if slightly cramped premises and at the last minute, by the Žižkov pub U sadu. River Cat classic traditionally draws the strongest line-up of players. It’s hard to say why that is so, since the material prizes here usually don’t stand out from the average and a classic played in May then means a long card-playing fast, but this year too, many experienced great guys and players in superb current form gathered here.
Glide the best player – Schrott fought to the last game – The return of Ondraldo
The jubilee tenth Team Championship moved after two seasons from Únětice to Prague, specifically to Úl, the hive in Ďáblice, which brought a higher turnout of teams than last year. And we could just about end the news there, because otherwise this year’s edition was quite similar to the last year’s.
Blanche celebrates her first title, Niti takes a sixth silver, the Mongolians shine, a lesson for a newcomer
The last National of the 2026 season—the Bolivian Fiesta Praga Olé!, again held at Cafe Míšeňská, albeit with a new organising team—carried only echoes of its first edition. The quality of the entrants, however, was fantastic.
Maczka silver for the third time - Vietnamese newcomers score - Weak standard of play
The seventh Copo do Monteiro, for the seventh time at the vegan burger joint Belzepub, opened the second half of the National Tour. The traditional technical problems are being minimised, and with the whole starting field rarely punctual, the tournament began practically without delay just after half past six, so it was due to finish reasonably comfortably a little after ten in the evening. Such was the tournament plan,…
