Bratislava became the European capital of sudoku for one weekend. The inaugural European Sudoku Championship, held at the Sorea Regia Hotel from May 7 to 9, 2026, attracted 154 competitors from 27 countries.
After 7 individual rounds, 2-time World Champion Tiit Vunk is also the first European Sudoku Champion! Joining him on the podium are Czech power solvers Jakub Ondrousek and Jan Vondruska. On the second day, 50 teams competed over 4 creative rounds of interconnected puzzles. The Czech teams continued their dominance and took both the gold and silver positions. Team Turkey finished in third. 
You can find the full results on the championship website.
ESC 2026 – Individual Top 10
1. Tiit Vunk 
2. Jakub Ondrousek 
3. Jan Vondruska
4. Vincent Bertrand 
5. Martin Merker 
6. Dominik Bezkosty 
7. Jan Zverina
8. Can Erturan 
9. Nikola Zivanovic 
10. Christian Konig
Top 6 individual players. Photo – Martin Hruลกka
ESC 2026 – Team Top 10
1. Czech A
2. Czech B
3. Turkey A
4. UK A 
5. Germany A
6. Netherlands A 
7. Hungary A 
8. Estonia A
9. Turkey B
10. France A 
Top 3 teams. Photo – Martin Hruลกka
Congratulations to the other prize winners:
Under 18
1. Can Erturan
2. Iva Rabar 
3. Marin Puljiz
Top 3 players in the O50 category. Photo – Martin Hruลกka
Over 50
1. Claudine Thiry 
2. Manuela Hawel 
3. Deyan Razsadov 
Top 3 players in the O50 category. Photo – Martin Hruลกka
Newcomer (who hasn’t participated in WSC)
1. Freddie Hand
2. Gabrielle Zwaneveld
3. Katarzyna Kruszel
Female
1. Tantan Dai 
2. Eva Schuckert
3. Jana Novotna