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European Club Cup 2026

Round 1

90 of 90 games finished, 89% of them decisive. 15 teams won 6–0. Bayegan Pendik Chess Sports Club had the best team performance, 2568.

CompleteUpdated 18 Oct 2026, 21:30 CEST

Round 1 in numbers

90

games finished of 90

89%

decisive; White scored 49%

39

moves per game

77

moves in the longest game

Results

40

White wins, 44%

10

draws, 11%

40

Black wins, 44%

1 checkmates on the board, 0 draws by repetition, 0 stalemates, 0 draws before move 30 and 0 forfeits.

Left out of the statistics: Maxime Roganova – Patrick Terhuven — the broadcast did not record the moves that were played. The result 1–0 stands (verify, 18 Oct: board 11.5 Roganova – Terhuven scored 1-0 (chess-results agrees) but the relay's moves end 61. Kxe4?? with Black mating in 15, after White was +10 with a rook against two pawns; the relay mis-registered a move or stopped early).

Accuracy and time

90.5%

average accuracy, as Lichess scores it

1.46

blunders per game

111

mistakes, as Lichess marks them

124

blunders, as Lichess marks them

2:35

average time per move

12%

of moves played with under 5 minutes left

Lichess analysed 85 of 89 finished games, with 337 inaccuracies, 111 mistakes and 124 blunders. Times come from the relay clocks of 83 games. The extra 30 minutes after move 40 showed up on move 41 or 42 for 80% of 41 players, and never for 3 players who went past move 45.

Game awards

Not awarded this round: Bare King Optimist, Houdini.

Player awards

Ratings, titles and ages

Not awarded this round: Youngest Player, Oldest Player, Generations.

Clock awards

Not awarded this round: Flag Fall.

From the relay clocks of 83 of 89 finished games; games with missing, hand-entered or corrected clocks are left out, and time left after move 40 counts only once the clock shows the extra 30 minutes.

Engine awards

Not awarded this round: Lucky Escape.

From Lichess’s computer analysis of 85 of 89 finished games. 4 more join when the round is updated the next evening. Inaccuracies, mistakes and blunders are the ones Lichess marks on the move.

Chess culture

Never Play f6

53% scored by all who tried

5 more, tied

Ben Finegold says never push the f-pawn one square. These players did it by move 10 (f3 or …f6) and won anyway.

Not awarded this round: Royal Walkabout, Botez Gambit, Brilliant!!, Short’s King Walk.

Homages to chess memes and famous games, meant kindly. Brilliant!!, Botez Gambit and The Carlsen Grind use Lichess’s analysis of 85 of 89 finished games; the rest look at every finished game.

Collections

Holy Hell

7left alone

4 more

En passant was on the board and the player left it alone. En passant is forced, allegedly.

Not awarded this round: Mate Gallery, Pawn Cube, Pawn Diamond, The Hard One, Photo Finish.

The awards that list every case instead of crowning one, read from the position on every move; the overview counts them across the rounds. The Hard One, Il Vaticano, the pawn shapes and Royal Court may well stay empty for a round or two.

Match awards

Whitewash

15matches

12 more

Won the match 6–0, forfeits included.

Comeback Match

2matches

Lost on board 1 and still won the match.

Team of the Round

2568performance

Highest performance over the six boards: average opponent rating plus 400 × (wins − losses) ÷ 6, all six played against rated opponents.

Slingshot

239points lower on average

Won a match against the team that looked strongest on paper: the largest gap in average rating, all six boards played and rated.

Marathon Match

258moves

The match whose six boards ran longest, in moves added together.

Sprint Match

204moves

The match whose six boards were over quickest, in moves added together; forfeits never count.

Theory Match

81½opening moves

The match that stayed in the book longest: the opening phases of its six boards added, in moves.

Thrill Ride

2eval swings

The match with the most swings between a one-pawn lead for White and one for Black over its six boards; every board needs Lichess's full analysis.

Not awarded this round: Peace Treaty.

Rates over each team’s finished games of the round, six needed. The event-wide team awards, the category leaders and the board race are on the standings page.

Teams: style

Space Invaders

37.68per 100 moves

Most moves into the opponent's half per 100 of the team's own moves.

Check, Please

4.33checks per game

Most checks given per game over the team's finished games.

The Late Knight Show

2.67per game

  • 16 late knight moves in 6 games

Most knight moves from move 31 on, per game, over the team's finished games.

Chicken Nation

18.1retreats per 100 moves

Most retreating moves per 100 of the team's own moves; castling never counts.

Pawn Pushers

37.13pawn moves per 100 moves

Most pawn moves per 100 of the team's own moves.

Wandering Kings

5.83king moves per game

Most king moves per game over the team's finished games.

Safety First

5.25average castling move

Earliest castling on average, over the games in which the team castled at all.

Déjà Vu

3½identical moves

Two of the team's games with the same colour that followed the same moves for longest; both are listed.

Teams: clocks

Deep Thinkers

3:04per move

Most seconds per move over the team's games with usable clocks.

Quick Draw

1:51per move

Fewest seconds per move over the team's games with usable clocks.

Zeitnot Nation

22.6% under five minutes

Highest share of moves played with under five minutes on the clock.

Time in the Bank

30:27left on average

Most time left on the clock after the last move, on average.

Over the relay clocks of 83 of 89 finished games; a team needs six such games.

Teams: engine

Precision Nation

96.5% accuracy

Highest average Lichess accuracy over the team's analysed games.

Over Lichess’s analysis of 85 of 89 finished games; a team needs six analysed games.

Notable games

Game phases

11

moves of opening

18

moves of middlegame

16

moves of endgame

Averages per game, with the phases split as Lichess splits them. 63% of the games reached an endgame; the first capture came on move 6.7 on average.

Endgames by type

EndgameReachedAt the end
Rook129
King and pawn44
Queen21
Queen and rook20
Bishop10
Knight10

A rook endgame has nothing but kings, pawns and rooks left; the others likewise, as the Lichess puzzle tagger defines them. A game can pass through several types, so the first column adds up to more than the games.

Reached, and still there at the end

Each band runs from the games that reached the endgame to those that still had it on the last move; the rest went on into another type. One scale for both columns.

ReachedAt the endRook 129King and pawn 44Queen 21Queen and rook 2Bishop 1Knight 1

Tactics

1,422

captures, 16 per game

307

checks

143

castled kingside

10

castled queenside

4

games without castling

4

promotions, 1 under

2

en passant captures

Openings

First moves

  1. 1.e4
    43%
  2. 1.d4
    36%
  3. 1.Nf3
    12%
  4. 1.c4
    9%

Share of all finished games. Opening names and ECO codes come from Lichess, based on the position reached.

Every opening of the round

The round’s openings as a tree: the five volumes of the opening encyclopaedia (A flank openings, B semi-open games, C open games and the French, D closed games and the Grünfeld, E Indian defences), their families, and every variation played. A line grows with the games through it; the red thread leads to the round’s rarest openings.

AZukertort Opening 2King's Indian Attack 4Réti Opening 1English Opening 7Modern Defense 1Indian Defense 3Pseudo Queen's Indian Defense 1Benko Gambit Accepted 3Benoni Defense 1Dutch Defense 3BNimzowitsch Defense 1Alekhine Defense 1Modern Defense 1Pirc Defense 3Caro-Kann Defense 9Sicilian Defense 19CFrench Defense 3Four Knights Game 1Italian Game 1Ruy Lopez 1DQueen's Pawn Game 2Slav Defense 1Queen's Gambit Declined 5Grünfeld Defense 1ECatalan Opening 1Indian Defense 1Bogo-Indian Defense 5Queen's Indian Defense 2Nimzo-Indian Defense 3King's Indian Defense 2

Point at a line or a name to name the opening; click to open it on Lichess.Tap a name to name the opening; tap it again to open it on Lichess.

Which openings won

A bar per family: White’s wins, the draws, Black’s wins. The tick is the family’s score for White, the grey line the round’s; a tick right of it, and White did better than usual. Framed in red, the best for White and the best for Black of the families with at least 5 games.

Round: White 49%gamesSicilian DefenseCaro-Kann DefenseEnglish OpeningBogo-Indian DefenseQueen's Gambit Decl…Indian DefenseKing's Indian AttackBenko Gambit Accep…Dutch DefenseFrench DefenseNimzo-Indian DefensePirc DefenseKing's Indian DefenseModern DefenseQueen's Indian Defe…Queen's Pawn GameZukertort OpeningAlekhine DefenseBenoni DefenseCatalan OpeningFour Knights GameGrünfeld DefenseItalian GameNimzowitsch DefensePseudo Queen's Indi…19975544333332222211111111
The numbers
FamilyGamesWhite winsDrawsBlack winsWhite’s score
Sicilian Defense19811045%
Caro-Kann Defense942356%
English Opening730443%
Bogo-Indian Defense512240%
Queen's Gambit Declined541090%
Indian Defense40040%
King's Indian Attack430175%
Benko Gambit Accepted3300100%
Dutch Defense320167%
French Defense311150%
Nimzo-Indian Defense301217%
Pirc Defense320167%
King's Indian Defense2200100%
Modern Defense20020%
Queen's Indian Defense201125%
Queen's Pawn Game210150%
Zukertort Opening20020%
Alekhine Defense1100100%
Benoni Defense1100100%
Catalan Opening101050%
Four Knights Game1100100%
Grünfeld Defense10010%
Italian Game10010%
Nimzowitsch Defense1100100%
Pseudo Queen's Indian Defense10010%

Best for White

Not enough games yet.

Best for Black

Not enough games yet.

Openings with at least 5 games.

Rarest openings of the round

Pieces

1,929

pawn moves, 28%

1,266

knight moves, 19%

1,039

bishop moves, 15%

1,163

rook moves, 17%

789

queen moves, 12%

675

king moves, 10%

Captured and surviving

PieceCapturedStill on the board at the end
pawns66853%
knights27124%
bishops24033%
rooks15656%
queens8753%

Checkmates

1on the board

1 by White, 0 by Black

Mating pieceGames
Queen0
Rook1
  1. move 59Samadov, Read AZE mated De Vos, Nils BEL
Bishop0
Knight0
Pawn0

The mating piece is read from the final position. A piece opens onto its mates.

Fastest mates

  1. Move 59, mate with the rookIM Read Samadov AZE 25241againstNils De Vos BEL 22820

The mates on a move axis

A dot per checkmate on the move it fell, filled for a mate by White, hollow for one by Black, the fastest in red. Each piece in the list opens onto its games.

0204060QueenRookBishopKnightPawn

Board heatmap

Darker means more moves, on a square-root scale.

Busiest squares

  1. d4267
  2. d5228
  3. f6223
  4. e4219
  5. e5213

Quietest square with any traffic: h1, 21.

Where the pieces went in the finished games of the round.