A first Grand Championship
8
tracked contests to get there
This was Szendo Smoke BBQ Team's first Grand Championship in the data — it arrived at their 8th tracked contest.
Bulgarian Barbecue Championship
2025-09-12 – 2025-09-14 · Sofia, 1000 · BULGARIA · 📍 Borisovia Garden Maimunarnika Venue
Reps: ANDREAS SCHNOELL, LUCA FAMIGLI
Grand Champion: Szendo Smoke BBQ Team (705.6800) · 11 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Rusty grill
The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)
How the field scored
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
613.43
median 677.65
705.68 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 177.14
- Pork Ribs 177.74
- Pork 178.86
- Brisket 180.00 🔥
127.78
180.00
Entries
11
4 judged meats
Top score
705.6800
Winning margin
5.0856
GC over RC
Field average
666.58
613.43705.68
median 677.65 · last place to winner
Tightest race
Chicken
3.4400 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
625.0972
613.43705.68
10th place overall
Field spread
92.2516
winner to last place
Double threats
7
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 12%
beats 88% of 4707 Master Series wins in the data
Form held
Weak
ρ = -0.18 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1502
avg power rating going in · stronger than 2% of contests
Storylines (5 found in this contest's numbers)
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
A rookie on the podium
2nd
at their first tracked contest
Rusty grill finished 2nd overall in the first contest the data has them cooking at all.
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 7 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 8–9: Long Black Train and Chop BBQ tied on 164.5828 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 1–2: Szendo Smoke BBQ Team and Smoke and Beer team tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 4–5: FOOD'VENTURE GRILL & BBQ and Rusty grill tied on 173.1316 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 8–9 · tie
- Pork 1–2 · tie
- Pork 4–5 · tie
- Brisket 8–9 · 0.0112
How the title was won
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
Szendo Smoke BBQ Team took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was chicken at 3rd.
- Chicken 3rd
- Pork Ribs 3rd
- Pork 1st
- Brisket 3rd
A perfect score on the table
1
perfect 180s
1 perfect 180 was scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
- Smoke and Beer team · Brisket
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)
Score distribution
Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)
Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 177.1428 | 173.7028 | 163.4056 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.7372 | 171.9656 | 156.5600 |
| Pork | 178.8572 | 173.1316 | 155.9884 |
| Brisket | 180.0000 | 166.8228 | 147.9544 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
11 entries · top 705.6800 · median 677.6456
Chicken
11 entries · top 177.1428 · median 173.1656
Pork Ribs
11 entries · top 177.7372 · median 170.8228
Pork
11 entries · top 178.8572 · median 167.9656
Brisket
11 entries · top 180.0000 · median 160.5716 · 🔥 perfect 180