Europa Cup 2021 - First Matches

It’s time to start the Europa Cup 2021.

Thanks for joining this tournament, and best of luck to all. The first round of games will start on the 1^st June, so please set them up now. The list of teams, fixtures, and the settings you should user for the match are below.

A reminder that Emilia-Romagna are our current champions, and a welcome to our Ukrainian teams, competing for the first time. Piemonte, Montauban, Bratislavský kraj, and Trenčiansky kraj are also first-time qualifiers.

I have split the 16 teams into 4 groups of 4. Only the winning team from each group will advance to the final round, in which the remaining four teams will play for the championship. I’ve drawn the groups randomly (using random.org), while drawing from different pots to ensure we have an even spread of nations across the groups. I also drew our 4 national champions (Emilia-Romagna, Somerset Wyvern, Montauban, and Kherson—Slovakian champions Košický declined to take part) first so that we only have one champion per group.

Please make sure you're familiar with the rules.

Groups

Group A

🇬🇧 Somerset Wyvern

🇫🇷 Bretagne Échecs

🇸🇰 Bratislavský kraj

🇮🇹 Piemonte

Group B

🇫🇷 Montauban

🇬🇧 Yorkshire Terriers

🇺🇦 Lviv

🇮🇹 Toscana

Group C

🇺🇦 Kherson

🇬🇧 Sussex

🇸🇰 Presovsky kraj

🇮🇹 Trentino-Südtirol

Group D

🇮🇹 Emilia-Romagna

🇸🇰 Trenčiansky kraj

🇮🇪 Leinster

🇫🇷 Euregio Lille

Fixtures

Group A Fixtures

Round 1

To start 1^st June

Somerset Wyvern vs Piemonte

Bratislavský kraj vs Bretagne Échecs

Round 2

To start 1^st July

Piemonte vs Bratislavský kraj

Bretagne Échecs vs Somerset Wyvern

Round 3

To start 1^st August

Piemonte vs Bretagne Échecs

Somerset Wyvern vs Bratislavský kraj

Group B Fixtures

Round 1

To start 1^st June

Montauban vs Toscana

Lviv vs Yorkshire Terriers

Round 2

To start 1^st July

Toscana vs Lviv

Yorkshire Terriers vs Montauban

Round 3

To start 1^st August

Toscana vs Yorkshire Terriers

Montauban vs Lviv

Group C Fixtures

Round 1

To start 1^st June

Kherson vs Trentino-Südtirol

Prešovský kraj vs Sussex

Round 2

To start 1^st July

Trentino-Südtirol vs Prešovský kraj

Sussex vs Kherson

Round 3

To start 1^st August

Trentino-Südtirol vs Sussex

Kherson vs Prešovský kraj

Group D Fixtures

Round 1

To start 1^st June

Emilia-Romagna vs Euregio Lille

Leinster vs Trenčiansky kraj

Round 2

To start 1^st July

Euregio Lille vs Leinster

Trenčiansky kraj vs Emilia-Romagna

Round 3

To start 1^st August

Euregio Lille vs Trenčiansky kraj

Emilia-Romagna vs Leinster

Match Settings

Use the following settings when sending a challenge:

• Match Name: "Europa Cup 2021 RX: your team vs. opposing team" (where X is the round number, e.g. “Europa Cup 2021 R1: Somerset Wyvern vs Piemonte”)
• Description: “https://www.chess.com/club/europa-cup” (this makes it easier for players to follow the competition)
• Game Type: Standard Chess
• Days per Move: 3
• Rating Range: none (leave free)
• Minimum Games: 0
• Players per Club: Min: 5; Max: leave free
• Concurrent Games: 2
• Start Date: the 1st day of the month
• Start Time: any time you like
• AUTO-START: off
• Games are RATED: on

A last note: with the Cup welcoming more countries, I currently plan to revise the entry requirements for the 2022 Cup so that only the top 3 teams from each country will be automatically invited; countries who have at least one team qualify for the 2021 final round will have their top 4 league finishers invited. This is slightly more exclusive than previously. Please let me know if you disagree with this idea and we can discuss it as a group.

Good luck, everyone!