The Canadian Dream

A drawing from a hat conducted by an independent bartender secured seats at the tables for Sir Ludwig of Royal Crown and Batbold of Dashinchilen, even though he was listed as an alternate for the classic Désert Dessert 2026 tournament, as well. Thanks to the card god, the game was played with a full roster. Among the seeded players who gathered at the Hive arena were star players, bards of the Smoking Cat, as well as newcomers.

At the celebration of Indian summer and nature’s bounty, prizes included trophies, wine, figs and peaches from the president’s garden, as well as homemade kombucha and pickled peppers from Master Jooki’s garden, dried raspberries from Koloniál Sova, and a golden glass of Fantomas honey.

The playing words were, as they should be, classically pithy.

TRDLO (= boob)

The first draw placed the players in a truly interesting way.

At Table 1: Marge from Nepal, Batbold from Mongolia, Zia Mahmood from Vietnam (Season 1), Polda from Bolivia, and Sir Diamond from the UK, playing his second season. The game at Table 1 started with two letters sent to the locker room—what more to say? Young Sir managed to stay letter-free until the 13th game (or rather, his 11th game), but he didn’t lose another game after that and finished the first round with an impressive 92%. Batbold was the first to earn Trdlo in the 14th game; two doubles didn’t miss Marge, and by the 16th game, Trdlo was hers.

At Table 2 were seasoned players Jooki, Oldin, Petra, Alida, and Dave, a newcomer from Vietnam. Alida reached the Edge of the Word (E!) fairly early on, but managed to hang on for three more games before leaving the table first with Trdlo. Hopes at the table were sprouting like mushrooms after rain when a whisper began to spread through the Hive arena, “Jooki has three letters?!” That was still after the 11th game (or rather, his 9th game). Connoisseurs probably already suspect how things unfolded: after Alida’s departure, everyone reached the Edge of the Word (E!), thus the 22nd game decided the outcome. Jooki (75%) took home the Trdlo to add it to his modest collection of badges. Incredible. Everyone stared in silence at this rarely seen situation—no one could believe it. The insiders weren’t even surprised; it’s a well-known fact among the organizers, and it evidently even affected Katarinator’s performance at Table 3.

At Table 3, Katarinator was the first to get a letter. This was followed by a double letter for Chandra Yetti. Maczka went the longest without a letter, but then she took a double. Fully focused, Sir Ludwig finished with two letters only, a respectable 86%. A double eventually caught up with Havlas as well, starting with the 16th game before the locker room break, during which Chandra Yetti took the first Trdlo, and in the 18th game, the double was sealed with a Trdlo for Havlas.

PREJT (= blood sausage)

In the Round 2, things started to get intense because of the playing word. The word “PREJT” might be borderline for some people, and then the player has to fight an inner struggle not to walk away from the table. That, as well, is the Smoking Cat, my friend—toughening yourself up in an unpleasant situation.

At Table 1, the second round consisted of 15 games. Chandra Yetti achieved an unprecedentedly fast “quintuple” with a single locker. Shortly thereafter, Jooki with just one letter scored a double, and once again the Hive was abuzz with amazement; Alida then scored a triple, followed by a double for Zia Mahmood and a final double for Alida T. Prejt led Havlas to a 100% success rate in the 2nd Round.

At Table 2, favorite Maczka and newcomer Dejv took turns scoring a letter each in the first four games; Dejv then held his own for quite a while. Petra and Polda also played evenly, while Maczka was the first to finish a game with a Prejt. Sir Diamond really struggled in the 2nd Round; he was without a letter for a long time again, then got a double, showed impressive tenacity once more, and finally made a fatal triple, after which Prejt took his place at the table.

Table 3 also saw 15 games played. Nepalese Marge took the first and last letters, with an unfortunate triple in between. Batbold also secured two letters in a row at the start—a double—and after Nepalese’s triple, he repeated his double and remained on the Edge (E!). After Marge left, the bad luck shifted to Oldin, who, due to a lapse in attention, scored two letters at once—fortunately, those were the only ones. Vizour would surely have commented, “That was a completely unnecessary loss!” Katarinator also collected only two letters, and Sir Ludwig (92%) saved the British honor.

DRŠŤKA (= tripe)

Both rounds were completed on time, and the final thus began with “DRŠŤKA” a six-letter word. Surprisingly, neither the ace players (Jooki, Petra, Marge) nor the favorites in the prediction contest made it to the final table. Sir Ludwig, Polda, Havlas, Katarinator, greenhorn Zia Mahmood, and Oldin made it to the finals.

An amazing 32 games were played in the finals, which is why the finalists’ endurance is so admirable.

A lot of letters landed in the locker room; the game was more or less even. At first, Havlas was doing the best, but a subsequent triple with two locker rooms put him on the Edge of the Word; in the 25th game (or rather, his 17th game), he then stuffed Dršťka. Then Katarinator gradually made it to the Edge, but she only held on for one game before Zia Mahmood reached the Edge, followed by Polda and then Sir Ludwig, while Oldin maintained a one-letter lead. Fans love this kind of suspenseful final drama—it’s a matter of one or two games before the outcome is decided, the tension rises, the silence deepens, hearts pound… The final “Dršťka” landed at hands of Sir Ludwig.

After six years, Oldin once again climbed onto the top step of the podium and, with a consistent performance in the final, won the third annual September Fest. Polda took silver (from a better starting position—ed.), while Vietnamese newcomer Zia Mahmood took bronze.

Rankings & SCWS

The Classic Tour 2026 has come to a close, determining who qualified among the top 25 players in this year’s World Series. Who can we look forward to seeing at the World Series?

Midgard (CAN) currently leads the Clubs Rankings, followed by Burning Cards (VIE) in second place and Royal SCC Vinohrady in third. Blanche (Burning Cards) and Polda (No Stresaran Santa Cruz / BOL) currently lead the Players Rankings.

September Fest 2026 Results

Placement			points	rounds	letters	games	success rate
1		OLDIN Midgard	30	3	10	55	81.82%
2		POLDA No Stresaran Santa Cruz	25	3	10	53	81.13%
3		ZIA MAHMOOD Burning Cards	20	3	10	50	80.00%
4		SIR LUDWIG Majestic Crown	0	3	9	50	82.00%
5		KATARINATOR KK Bílá Hora	15	3	11	48	77.08%
6		HAVLAS Royal SCC Vinohrady	12	3	11	45	75.56%
7		DEJV Burning Cards	10	2	7	36	80.56%
8		SIR DIAMOND Majestic Crown	8	2	6	30	80.00%
8		PETRA Royal SCC Vinohrady	8	2	7	35	80.00%
10		JOOKI KK Bílá Hora	4	2	8	33	75.76%
11		MACZKA Midgard	0	2	8	25	68.00%
12		ALIDA No Stresaran Santa Cruz	0	2	10	25	60.00%
13		BATBOLD Smoking Chingiss Dashin­chilen	0	2	10	24	58.33%
14		MARGE Kathmandu Raiders	0	2	10	21	52.38%
15		CHANDRA YETTI Kathmandu Raiders	0	2	10	18	44.44%