Paul Grünke, also known as "thetaker", won the Stars & Platinum Robot Individual in the BBOers June Festival. Paul is a German bridge player, active at national and international levels. He has won some big tournaments, including multiple German championships along with the Student European Championship. He is 34 years old and lives in Munich, Germany, where he works as a policy consultant, advising the government on digitization and Artificial Intelligence.

Paul's bridge journey began during his school years, around the age of 14, when he had a passionate teacher who introduced him to the game. This teacher left a lasting impact on his life and lighted up his enthusiasm for bridge. 

A few years later, Paul earned a spot in the German junior squad and had the opportunity to play in the World Mind Games in Beijing in 2008. Although they didn't win, the experience was unforgettable, and it opened doors for Paul to attend many more international events. Throughout the years, he was fortunate enough to be approached by skilled partners who invited him to play with them, greatly contributing to his personal growth as a player.

"What keeps me motivated next to the fascination of the game is the community in the bridge world and the many friends I made whom I meet regularly at the international events.”

He recalled one of his most memorable tournaments, the Mixed World Championship (Wuhan Cup) in Salsomaggiore in 2021. It was a significant tournament for him, being his first World Championship outside of Junior competitions. Playing alongside experienced teammates, the event held special meaning. 

"The tournament held special significance due to the impact of Covid. Our team remained Covid-free until the semifinals, where we unfortunately lost to France. Just before the match for 3rd place, we underwent testing at the pharmacy."

He added, "When the pharmacist called my name, I realized that my tournament journey had come to an end. As I wasn’t the only player in our team to test positive, our captain was getting ready to jump in as a substitute. At this point the WBF decided that there would be no match for 3rd place after all and we would all get awarded a bronze medal."

Paul enjoys playing on BBO. He plays the game almost daily. He loves the Bidding Practice feature as it is the ideal place to practice and develop a secure partnership system, allowing him to train effectively and build confidence in his bidding abilities.

He also shared his experiences with robot games, as he’s actively participating in Zenith and other Daylong robot tournaments. He particularly enjoys the Just Declare format, as the bidding can be challenging for him due to the robots' unique logic. Paul said, "The robots base their plays on double dummy simulations and expect declarer to make all the right moves." He explained that understanding the robot logic is crucial to doing well in robot games, and this understanding allows you to make informed decisions.

His victory in the Stars & Platinum Robot Individual brought him great joy. Reflecting on his performance, he said, "Finishing the third session, I had a feeling that this could be enough, and was looking forward to seeing the results on the next day with some excitement." He's so happy to have come top, and was really pleased to answer our questions for this interview.

Paul emphasized the importance of staying focused and avoiding hasty moves, considering the potential distractions of online play. His strategy involved actively searching for additional opportunities in the contracts, such as, "I tried to spot any potential for endplays or squeeze options that the robots don't always defend against accurately.”

He also shared one interesting hand from the tournament:

“I liked this hand. Both because of the ending with the trump coup as well as the fact that playing in this rather ridiculous contract just doesn’t matter in this format. You just have to try and make the best of it.”

Before participating in tournaments, especially offline tournaments, he has some important preparation to ensure his readiness. He mentioned that for big events, his main preparation involves system training and partner discussions. In team events, understanding how to work together effectively is crucial. In their Mixed National team, they had a great team spirit that helped them during tough times. Regarding physical preparation, he doesn't have any special routine but focuses on staying fit.

Apart from bridge, Paul enjoys playing chess and badminton as his other hobbies. He mentioned that while these hobbies differ in terms of time investment and skill development compared to bridge, he still gets a lot out of them.