In the 2008/09 season of the Swiss Bundesliga in chess , ASK Winterthur , Valais and the defending champion chess club Birsfelden / Beider Basel fought a three-way battle for the title. Winterthur took the lead, and since both Valais and Birsfelden / Beider Basel were deducted 2 team points each due to line-up errors, the lead with two team points on Valais and three team points on Birsfelden / Beider Basel was clear in the end. The Niederrohrdorf chess club was promoted from the 2nd Bundesliga and achieved relegation. In purely sporting terms, Lugano CS would have been relegated bottom of the table, but since Birsfelden / Beider Basel withdrew their team, Lugano was still relegated. For the reported team squads of the participating clubs, see the team squad of the Swiss 1st Bundesliga in chess 2008/09 .
The promotion match between the two winners of the second division relay, SC Kirchberg and the chess club Réti Zurich, took place on June 6th in Kirchberg . Réti Zurich won 6½: 1½ and was promoted to the 1st Bundesliga.