Origins And Brief History Of The EQC
The EQC grew out of a number of meetings in 2003 involving, primarily, quizzers from the UK and Belgium.
Firstly, in the summer, Belgium’s Steven de Ceuster was one of a number of foreign nationals who travelled to Villa Park in Birmingham, England, to take part in the first ‘World Quizzing Championships’, organised on that occasion by Quizzing.co.uk (the International Quizzing Assoc., hereinafter referred to as the “iQa”, would later be established and run the World Championships from 2004 onwards).
Later the same year a group of Belgian quizzers travelled to the London Borough of Bromley to take part in an international team quiz challenge, organised by Steven de Ceuster and Trevor Montague. About 30 people attended and Belgium emerged triumphant.
Then, in December 2003, cementing links first established at Villa Park, Chris Jones of Quizzing.co.uk went over to Belgium to take part in a quiz in Bruges, as a guest player with Steven de Ceuster’s team, ‘Andes Survivors’. Here discussion with Steven about the Belgian way of organising team quiz events, talks concerning the collaborative nature of their question-setting for events, and discussion also with Nico Pattyn of ‘Café den Hemel’ (a leading Belgian team from Ghent), led to a resolve to bring over a large contingent of English quizzers to Belgium late in 2004 to participate in a Belgian-style team quiz.
And from there things snowballed.
2004
By December 2004, when Café den Hemel hosted their team quiz event, not only was there a ‘Club Team’ competition, but a European Individual Championships and, with the help of Arko Olesk of Estonia, a knock-out European Nations championships which featured sides from Belgium, England, Estonia and the Netherlands. At the last minute almost a party of Norwegians arranged to make the trip (adding to circa 50 Dutch, English and Estonian visitors), and while it was not possible to include their participation in the main international event, a friendly match was arranged for them against a ‘Celtic Collective’ of UK quizzers with Irish, Scots and Welsh links.
Needless to say the event was a great success and everyone was keen to do it again. The contest was an eye-opener for most of the participants, Café den Hemel and Steven de Ceuster had been super hosts and we had been welcomed to a fantastic, historic venue for our quizzes. Inspired by all of this, Arko Olesk stepped forward and offered Tallinn in Estonia as a venue for 2005. The following year would see the EQC cemented in the Quiz Calendar, and in a format which has remained largely unchanged since.
2005
Tallinn 2005 is remembered fondly, certainly in the UK, as a watershed in international quiz events. The EQC weekend fully matured to its potential - i.e. regarding its schedule - and was hosted in a superb venue within a quality hotel on the fringe of the centre of one of Europe’s most charming cities. And all at a time when prices in the Baltic States were still very affordable to travellers from Western Europe. We had a fantastic time! 
The addition of additional participants in the European Nations contest, including Finland, Wales and a Rest of Europe collective, saw eight teams first required to take part in a qualifying contest before four teams emerged to occupy semi-final places in the knock-out tournament. Another innovation was the addition to the roster of a European Pairs Championships. Quizzing in pairs is a popular format in Estonia and as hosts that nation was keen to include it in the programme. It proved so popular with other participants that it immediately became a permanent feature of EQC events.
2006
In 2006 iQa Great Britain acted as hosts and, if only because their quizzers were enjoying trips to Europe so much, the event was staged in a Chateau at Lésigny, a short way east of Paris, close to Euro Disney. The venue had formerly been a hotel – it was the base of the Brazilian Football Federation during their 1998 FIFA World Cup campaign – but had latterly been converted into a holiday facility for parties of school children. In December we had the run of the entire place to ourselves and, with the help of a bar that never seemed to close, and facilities for 2.00am karaoke sessions, the EQC 2006 turned into something of a 48 hour-long party, with some quiz of course. The whole event was captured by a British TV crew who produced a highly praised documentary about ‘quiz culture’.
Paris also saw the debut of teams from France, Germany and Lithuania, and was the first event attended by the iQa’s North America director, Paul Bailey. He certainly got the bug because he’s been every year since, bringing with him an ever increasing US (and Canadian) contingent.
2007
In 2007 the event was again hosted by iQa GB but this time on their home soil, in Blackpool – once the Mecca of British holidaymakers on the coast about 25 miles north of Liverpool. Both the Netherlands and Norway were keen to host but neither felt quite ready in 2007, so England stepped-in and hastily organised the event.
The venue was a grand hotel on the seafront and it was as well that there was plenty to keep the quizzers occupied within, because outside there was an icy wind off the Irish sea – just a few weeks after the EQC a 6000 ton ferry, MV Riverdance, was washed-up on the beach not far away! 
2007 saw the event continue to grow. Hungary made its debut in the competition and Team USA also made its first appearance, playing in the Aspirational Cup, its team including such luminaries as Ken Jennings and Bob Harris. Another individual making his welcome first appearance at the event was Anurakshat ‘Doc’ Gupta, travelling to the event all the way from Bangalore, India.
For the first time preparations for the EQC included a formal bidding process wherein prospective host nations submitted plans for the following year. iQa representatives were balloted over the weekend to see who would be the next hosts. At the conclusion of the weekend, before the formal lunch and prize-giving in the hotel restaurant complete with wood panelling salvaged from a sister ship of the RMS Titanic (can you see a theme developing here?), the announcement was made as to which bid had been successful. With bated breath everyone watched as a presentation revealed that the 2008 host city was to be… Oslo. In winning the bid Norway had succeeded over the efforts of the Netherlands. But the Dutch would be back!
A sad footnote to the event was the death, not long after, of Belgian quizzer Lieven van den Brande. He had been a constant supporter of the event and, in Blackpool, had finished runner-up in the Individual Championship. He became the first international quiz pioneer to be lost to us. RIP Lieven.
2008
In 2008 quizzers travelled from across Europe (and the globe) to Oslo. We were hosted in an excellent hotel on the south east fringe of a city enjoying a fabulous setting at the head of a fjord. Again a ferry made its appearance nearby, but thankfully this one wasn’t beached, it was properly moored, not far from the city’s fabulous new Opera House. This was just as well, the ferry, the world’s largest, was sat almost dominating the city sky line. The travelling contingents had much more besides to admire, including the Kon Tiki and Fram museums, which were also to ‘furnish’ the event with one or two questions besides!
An innovation at Oslo was the progress of the top 10 players at the end of the Individual Championships quiz into a final round, with players arranged on a stage and each correct answer signalled by an official stood looking over the players’ shoulders. This refinement was well received and retained for 2009.
All round Oslo proved to be a huge success, not least because the Norwegian Association demonstrated just how expertly-run an event like this can be with the right preparation and help. Once again the bar had been raised.
On the final day of the EQC we learned the outcome of the bids for 2009. Competing for the right to host the event was the iQa Netherlands sponsoring Dordrecht, and iQa GB, displaying its usual wanderlust by proposing Malta. Dordrecht won the vote and no one was happier than the Netherlands representative, Rinus Uijl. He had worked hard for his dream of bringing the EQC to his native Holland. Tragically Rinus was to pass-away just 12 days later. This was a shocking, double blow to Holland, who were still getting over the loss of Roel Schiedon, their National Secretary, in the preceding months.
2009
Dordrecht 2009 saw yet more debuts. Germany re-emerged with a team including a top 10 finisher for them in the Individual Championships. Denmark also sent its debutant contestant and a team from India took part for the first time, rivalling the Americans and Canadians for the accolade of who had travelled furthest to be there.
Another packed programme of official and unofficial events ensured the weekend passed as if a blur. The Dutch organisers did a splendid job in maintaining the high standards set at previous EQC meetings. Memorable moments included the daughter of our departed friend Rinus turning up to present the prizes at a quiz – based on his hero, Einstein – and held in his memory. RIP Rinus. 
2010
And so we come to 2010’s event, in Derby. We now have a tradition of excellent events to uphold and it is the avowed intention of iQa GB to do just that. We look forward to welcoming quizzers from around Europe and the Globe to the heart of England for the European Quizzing Championships weekend commencing Friday 12 November 2010.