Our group member PhilipN answers the common question:

Q: How do I sign up for Team Matches?

A: You go into the group's main page, and there will be a box on the right-hand side of the screen called "Group Menu" (above the box called "Groups & Teams").  There will be a button there that says, "Team Matches."  If you click on this, you will find a list of all the team matches that are currently being played.  Below this is a list of the team matches we have completed.

During the last few days before a match, there will be a box near the top of the screen (just above the list of current matches) called "Open Matches" where the approaching matches will be listed.  Click on the button to view the match, and you will see two lists of players: the players who are currently signed up to play for Team USA: Northwest in the match, and the players who are currently signed up to play for the opposing team in the match.  You join the list of players for Team USA: Northwest by scrolling to the bottom of our team's list and clicking the green button to join the match.

Here's how a match works:  One team's admin will act on behalf of the team to send a challenge to the other team, and the other team's admin will accept the challenge on behalf of the other team.  This is when registration opens for the match (that is, when the upcoming match appears in the box at the top of the "Team Matches" page).  People from both teams join the match using the process I explained in the last paragraph, and their names will be added to the roster for the upcoming match.  Both teams' rosters are sorted by rating.  When the match starts (when both admins lock their teams' rosters, finalizing the match), you will have two games automatically start: one in which you play as White, and the other in which you play as Black.  In both of these games, your opponent will be the user whose name is directly across from yours on the roster.  Each win you score will earn one point for our team, and each win your opponent scores will earn one point for the opposing team.  In the case of a draw, our team gets half a point and the opposing team gets half a point.