Bavarian Championship: Sasikiran joins Gopal in the lead

by Martina Gerdts
11/7/2026 – With 6 points from 7 rounds, Indian grandmasters Krishnan Sasikiran and G.N. Gopal share the lead at the Bavarian Chess Championship in Tegernsee. Their opponents' average ratings of 2413 (Sasikiran) and 2411 (Gopal) also leave them closely matched on tiebreaks, with both having faced stronger opposition on average than any other participant. Gopal drew with Elham Amar on the top board. While the games on the neighbouring boards also ended in draws, including Frederik Svane (5½/7) against Adrian Gschnitzer, Sasikiran secured a win over Rithvik Raja. | Photo: Sandra Schmidt
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Two co-leaders, two rounds to go

After round seven, the Bavarian Championship is led by the two Indian GMs, Krishnan Sasikiran and G.N. Gopal. Gopal was able to maintain his advantage over most of his direct pursuers, as the games on the first five boards all ended in draws, but Sasikiran scored a win against his compatriot Rithvik Raja and was able to move into shared first place. Sasikiran and Gopal are therefore both on 6 points and lead the standings.

Frederik Svane drew with black on board two against Adrian Gschnitzer. With 5½ points, Frederik Svane is only half a point behind the leaders before the penultimate round on Saturday. Leonardo Costa drew with Roven Vogel, while Alexander Donchenko defeated Moritz Weishaeutel to join Frederik Svane and Leonardo Costa. In total, 21 players are on 5½ points.

The two highest-placed women are Maria Tsakona (47th) and Kateryna Dolzhykova (49th), both on 5 points.

Adrian Gschnitzer and Frederik Svane | Photo: Sandra Schmidt

Adrian Gschnitzer v. Frederik Svane

In his game against Frederik Svane, Adrian Gschnitzer managed to obtain an advantage. In the endgame, he captured a pawn with check, and it was precisely this move that gave Frederik Svane the opportunity to get back into the game and hold the draw.

At this point, there was already a material imbalance. Gschnitzer had a rook, bishop and five pawns, while Svane had two rooks and three pawns. After 45.Bxe5+ Kg8 46.Bf6 Rxe4+, Black had enough activity with his rooks to win or exchange all but two of White's pawns. In the end, they agreed to a draw.

In this endgame, Frederik Svane showed plenty of patience and held out in a complicated position long enough to reach an equal position again. In the final position, he could still have captured the b-pawn, but neither side could see a way to win.

Standings after round 7

Rk. Name Pts. TB1
1 Sasikiran, Krishnan 6 2413
2 Gopal, G.N. 6 2411
3 Svane, Frederik 5,5 2382
4 Can, Emre 5,5 2377
5 Abasov, Nijat 5,5 2377
6 Donchenko, Alexander 5,5 2377
7 Kilic, Eray 5,5 2375
8 Park, Evan 5,5 2350
9 Piorun, Kacper 5,5 2349
10 Vogel, Roven 5,5 2343
11 Parvanyan, Ashot 5,5 2336
12 Costa, Leonardo 5,5 2327
13 Kazakouski, Valery 5,5 2326
14 Amar, Elham 5,5 2317
15 M, S Midilesh 5,5 2296
16 Harsh, Suresh 5,5 2294
17 Santos Latasa, Jaime 5,5 2294
18 Baldauf, Marco 5,5 2292
19 Gschnitzer, Adrian 5,5 2290
20 Acs, Peter 5,5 2277
21 Hari, Madhavan N B 5,5 2205
22 Daakshin, Arun 5,5 2152
23 Srihari, L 5,5 2097
24 Raja, Rithvik R 5 2430
25 Lohia, Sohum 5 2383

...548 players

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Topics: GN Gopal, Krishnan Sasikiran, Tegernsee
Martina Gerdts studied Portuguese and Spanish linguistics and nowadays teaches language classes and writes about chess and languages. Having started playing chess for a tournament trip to Paris, she is now active not only as a player but in a diverse range of activities connected to chess. This includes among others teaching chess classes, writing about chess and being active as an arbiter.
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