Double Glory: The Stremavicius Brothers Claim the Top in Lithuania

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The Lithuanian National Chess Championships 2026 took place from 28 March – 2 April at the premises of the Klaipeda University. The event drew 77 competitors across two sections: an Open field of 53 players and a dedicated Women’s Championship featuring 24 participants.

Beyond the prestige of the national titles, the stakes were particularly high this year, with spots for the upcoming 2026 Chess Olympiad on the line. The event also pulled double duty as the National Junior U20 Championships, crowning the highest-placed youth players in each section.

Top seed GM Titas Stremavicius (rated 2547) arrived as the heavy favorite and did not disappoint, securing his third national title. However, the story of the tournament was the sibling rivalry at the summit. Titas was joined at the top of the leaderboard by his brother, IM Pijus Stremavicius (rated 2339). Both remained unbeaten throughout the nine rounds, finishing with an impressive 8/9 points.

The brothers faced off in the fourth round, settling for a draw in a game that ultimately dictated the pace of the event. They finished a convincing 1.5 points clear of the field, leaving the rest of the pack to battle for the final podium spot. The bronze medal was decided by tiebreaks after IM Gleb Pidluznij (2399) and FM Zanas Nainys (2286) both finished on 6.5/9. Pidluznij’s superior tiebreak criteria secured him the medal, while Nainys took fourth.

The best-ranked U20 players in the tournament were crowned Lithuanian National Junior U20 champions. The crown went to IM Gleb Pidluznij, FM Zanas Nainys was silver, and Jokubas Dijokas won bronze with 6 points.

Notably, the Open tournament saw two female players competing in the event, despite the fact that Lithuanian Women’s Championship simultaneously took place as a separate tournament. WGM Salomeja Zaksaite (rated 2110) finished the event with 5/9 points tying from 14-21 place, and Daiva Dienine (rated1989) scored 4.5/9 points to share 22-31 place.

The Women’s competition was played in seven rounds, with WFM Gabija Simkunaite (rated 2034) emerging as the winner with the score of 6/7 points. Simkunaite went unbeaten in the championship and clinched her second national title. Agne Mickunaite (rated 1868) was second with 5.5/9 points, and WFM Marija Sibajeva (rated 1990) came third with 5/9 points.

Just like in the Open section, the best-ranked Junior U20 players were crowned Lithuanian Women’s U20 Champions and gold went to Agne Mickunaite, Leja Zutaute (rated 1718) won silver, and Kotryna Sukyte (rated 1852) came third.

Final rankings, detailed information and photos can be found at the Lithuanian Chess Federation website.

Final rankings – Lithuanian Chess Championships 2026