The 1986 Swiss Championship was held in the university refectory in Basel. Viktor Korchnoi, winner of the two preceding editions, did not enter. Twelve players contested the fully round-robin Meisterturnier A. The preview listed 344 entrants across twelve competitions; later reports described more than 400 participants after the remaining categories had started. The accompanying open events admitted foreign players, while resident foreign players also appeared in the national title tournament. The domestic rating order in the preview was Wirthensohn, Nemet, Franzoni, Partos, Toth, Rüfenacht, Känel, Huss, Klauser, Salazar, Adler and Flückiger; this is not a list of drawing numbers.

Round 1: Franzoni beat Flückiger in 52 moves, Rüfenacht defeated Känel, and Nemet won with Black against Klauser. Partos–Toth was agreed drawn after about half an hour, while Salazar–Wirthensohn lasted 22 moves. Round 2 brought the first upset: Klauser defeated Toth with Black in 36 moves. Wirthensohn beat Flückiger in 22 moves. Nemet–Huss was adjourned, its resumption delayed by Huss's illness, and eventually drawn. After round 3 Franzoni, Wirthensohn and Nemet shared the lead on 2½ points.

In round 4 Huss beat Känel and Toth beat Salazar; the other games were drawn. Round 5 produced the most spectacular miniature: Huss defeated Franzoni in just 14 moves. The reports state that Huss underwent a meniscus operation during the championship. Wirthensohn led on 4/5, followed by Huss and Nemet on 3½; Klauser recovered by beating Rüfenacht.

Round 6 overturned the form book. Flückiger scored his first win against Nemet, Känel defeated Wirthensohn, Rüfenacht beat Huss, and Klauser defeated Partos with Black. Franzoni–Salazar required a fourth session after eleven hours of play and was eventually won by Franzoni. In round 7 Klauser beat Flückiger, while Wirthensohn–Franzoni was drawn after a third session. The three shared first place on 4½/7. Adler and Salazar scored their first wins against Känel and Rüfenacht respectively.

Klauser took the sole lead by beating Huss in round 8. Nemet defeated Känel; all four remaining games were drawn. In round 9 Klauser won with Black against Salazar and extended his lead to one point. Huss defeated Flückiger; the other games were drawn. After an English Opening in round 10, Klauser safely steered his game against Wirthensohn into an opposite-coloured bishop ending and accepted a draw. The other closest pursuers also drew. The press identified Sonneborn–Berger as the championship tiebreak and stated that a tie with Wirthensohn would have favoured the latter.

In the last round Klauser drew with his Zytglogge Bern clubmate Joël Adler in 15 moves, after approximately one hour, and secured his first national title with 7½/11. A 28-year-old assistant doctor and only ninth in the preview's domestic ranking, he had scored 1/3 and 1½/4 before winning five consecutive games in rounds 5–9. He also obtained his first international master norm. Huss beat Wirthensohn to join Franzoni on 6½; Nemet lost to Partos. The reports mention the broad prize fund of Schweizerische Kreditanstalt. Klauser had previously won the Swiss team championship with Zytglogge Bern in 1979 and 1983 and the Coupe Suisse in 1983.

In the parallel women's championship Tatjana Lematschko won all eleven games and her second national title. Erika Vogel finished second with 6½, with Angela Cathrein third. These are contextual reports; the present data files cover Meisterturnier A only.