Kisei (Go)
| Kisei (Go) | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Kisei |
| Started | 1976 |
| Honorary Winners | Fujisawa Hideyuki Kobayashi Koichi Iyama Yuta |
| Sponsors | Yomiuri Shimbun |
| Prize money | ¥43 million |
| Affiliation | Nihon Ki-in |
Kisei (棋聖) is an honorary title and Go competition. The title, meaning Go Sage in Japanese, was a traditional honorary appellation given to a handful of players down the centuries. The element ki can also apply to shogi, and there were also recognized kisei in the shogi world.
Background
[edit]Kisei is a Go competition organised by the Japanese Nihon Ki-in. The competition began in 1976 by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper and is the highest paying competition in Japanese professional Go, paying ¥43,000,000 to the winner since the 47th Kisei in 2023.[1] The word Kisei is Japanese for "Go Sage", which is why before the Kisei tournament began, the only players who were given the title "Kisei" were Dōsaku and Hon′inbō Shūsaku.[2]
The holder is challenged by whoever wins the round robin league. Players can get into the round robin league by going through many preliminary tournaments. Once there is a challenger to compete against the holder, the winner is decided through a best of seven match. The games are played over two days and each player is given eight hours of thinking time.[2] If a player qualifies for the Kisei league, they are automatically promoted to 7 dan. If that same player wins the league, a promotion to 8 dan is given. If that same player goes on to winning the title, they are promoted to 9 dan, the highest rank.[3]
Competitions
[edit]1st Kisei
[edit]The 1st Kisei was the birth of the new Go tournament. Since this was the first year of the tournament, there was no set challenger or holder. From the 2nd edition on, there has been a playoff between challengers. At the time, it was the highest paying tournament there had ever been, and would be until the creation of the Ing Cup. Fujisawa Hideyuki's win would mark the beginning of a six-year defense of the Kisei title from 1977 to 1982.[4][5]
2nd Kisei
[edit]The 2nd Kisei was the 2nd edition of the Kisei tournament. Since Fujisawa Hideyuki won the previous year, he was given an automatic place in the final. Eight players battled in a knockout tournament to decide the final 2. Those two would then play each other in a best-of-3 match to decide who would face Fujisawa. Kato Masao became the challenger after beating Rin Kaiho 2 games to 1, but would lose 4 games to 3 against Fujisawa.[6]
3rd Kisei
[edit]The 3rd Kisei was the 3rd edition of the Kisei tournament. Since Fujisawa Hideyuki won the previous year, he was given an automatic place in the final. Eight players battled in a knockout tournament to decide the final 2. Those two would then play each other in a best-of-3 match to decide who would face Fujisawa. Ishida Yoshio became the challenger after beating Sakata Eio 2 games to 1, but would lose 4 games to 1 against Fujisawa.[7]
4th Kisei
[edit]The 4th Kisei was the 4th edition of the Kisei tournament. Since Fujisawa Hideyuki won the previous year, he is given an automatic place in the final. Eight players battled in a knockout tournament to decide the final 2. Those two would then play each other in a best-of-3 match to decide who would face Fujisawa. Rin Kaiho became the challenger after beating Hashimoto Shoji 2 games to 1, but would lose 4 games to 1 against Fujisawa.[8]
5th Kisei
[edit]The 5th Kisei was the 5th edition of the Kisei tournament. Since Fujisawa Hideyuki won the previous year, he is given an automatic place in the final. Eight players battled in a knockout tournament to decide the final 2. Those two would then play each other in a best-of-3 match to decide who would face Fujisawa. Otake Hideo became the challenger after beating Cho Chikun 2 games to 1, but would lose 4 games to 0 against Fujisawa.[9]
Past winners
[edit]Honorary winners
[edit]A Go player who has held the title for five consecutive years, or won the title a total of ten times or more, has qualified themselves to become "Honorary Kisei" after retiring or after the age of 60.
- Fujisawa Hideyuki 1977–1982
- Kobayashi Koichi 1986–1993
- Iyama Yuta 2013–2021
References
[edit]- ^ "第47期 棋聖戦". Nihon Ki-in (in Japanese).
- ^ a b "Go Tournament: Kisei". gogameworld.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ "Abolition of the rating tournament". nihonkiin.or.jp/english. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ "Go Tournament: Kisei". gogameworld.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ "Kisei Tournament". gobase.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ "GoBase.org - Kisei title, 2nd edition, 1978". gobase.org. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ^ "kisei title, 3rd edition, 1979". Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "kisei title, 4th edition, 1980". Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "kisei title, 5th edition, 1981". Retrieved June 5, 2012.
External links
[edit]- Official Kisei page of Yomiuri Shinbun (in Japanese)
- Kisei title games