63rd NHK Cup (shogi)
The 63rd NHK Cup, or as it is officially known the 63rd NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament (第63回NHK杯テレビ将棋トーナメント dairokujūsankai enueichikeihai terebi shōgi tōnamento) was a professional shogi tournament organized by the Japan Shogi Association (日本将棋連盟 nihon shōgi renmei), or JSA, and sponsored by Japan's public broadcaster NHK (日本放送協会 nippon hōsō kyōkai). Play began on April 7, 2013 and ended on March 23, 2014. The 50-player single elimination tournament was won by Masataka Gōda. All of the tournament games were shown on NHK-E. The host (司会者 shikaisha) during the NHK-E broadcasts was women's professional (女流棋士 joryūkishi) Rieko Yauchi.[1]
Participants
Preliminary tournaments
A total of 130 shogi professionals (棋士 kishi)[lower-alpha 1] competed in 18 preliminary tournaments to qualify for the main tournament. These tournaments were one-day tournaments held at both the Tokyo Shogi Kaikan and the Kansai Shogi Kaikan and were not televised. Each tournament consisted of seven or eight players. The initial time control for each player was 20 minutes followed by a 30-second byōyomi.[2] A "piece toss" (振り駒 furigoma) was performed prior to each game to determine "the player who moves first" (先手 sente).[3]
The women's professional[lower-alpha 2] seed is normally determined by a playoff or qualifying tournament among the reigning women's major titleholders.[lower-alpha 3] Since two of the three reigning titleholders were also "apprentice professionals" (奨励会員 shōreikaiin), they were ineligible to qualify; therefore, the remaining titleholder was automatically seeded into the main tournament.[lower-alpha 4]
Brackets from two of the preliminary tournaments are shown below.
 7-player preliminary tournament won by Taichi Takami 4d |
 8-player preliminary tournament won by Kōta Kanai 5d |
Main tournament
The first time control for main tournament games was ten minutes per player. Once this was used up, a second time control of 10 one-minute periods of "thinking time" (考慮時間 kōryō jikan) began. Each player was given 30 seconds to make their move. If they did so, then no thinking time periods were used. If, however, they did not, a thinking time period began and they then had up to one minute (more specifically 59 seconds) to make a move before entering the next thinking time period. This process was repeated until a player had used all ten thinking time periods when the final byōyomi time control of 30 seconds per move began.[7] Sente was determined prior to each game by piece toss.
The 50 players listed below qualified for the main tournament.
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Notes:
- "No." represents the bracket position of the player in their respective block and "Rank/Title" represents the rank or titles held by the player when the original bracket finalized. A dan/kyū (段級 dankyū) grading system is used for ranking players.
- Players whose names are in bold were seeded directly into the main tournament as follows:[lower-alpha 7]
- 62nd NHK Cup (four players): Watanabe (champion), Habu (runner-up), Suzuki (semifinalist) and Gōda (semifinalist).
- Seven major titleholders (two players): Moriuchi (Meijin) and Satō (ōshō)[lower-alpha 8]
- Class A (six players): Miura, Tanigawa, Yashiki, Takahashi, Hashimoto and Fukaura
- Class B1 (twelve players): Maruyama, Kubo, Akutsu, Kimura, Namekata, Yamasaki, Inoue, Matsuo, Nakata, Hatakeyama, Hirose and Iizuka
- Other tournament winners (one player): Nagase (Shinjin-Ō)
- Women's professional (one player): Ueda Women's 3 dan (Mynavi Women's Shogi Open Champion)
- Others with outstanding records (six players): Iijima (Class B2), Toyoshima (Class B2), Murayama (Class C1), Itodani (Class C1), Nakamura (Class C1), Ōishi (Class C2) [lower-alpha 9]
- Among these 32 seeds, the following 14 were given byes in round 1 and began play in round 2: Watanabe, Habu, Suzuki, Gōda, Moriuchi, Satō, Miura, Tanigawa, Yashiki, Takahashi, Hashimoto, Fukaura, Maruyama, and Kubo.
- The remaining players qualified by winning preliminary tournaments.
The bracket at the start of the tournament is shown below.
Results
Winners are listed in bold. "Date" refers to the date the game was broadcast. Dan and titles are as of the date the game was broadcast. "Guest Analyst" refers to the kishi who provided expert commentary during the broadcast.[1] "No. of moves" refers to the total number of moves played in the game.[lower-alpha 10]
Round 1
A total of 18 games were played in round 1. Play began on April 7, 2013 and ended on August 8, 2013. The 18 preliminary tournament winners were paired against 18 seeded players.
| No. | Block | Sente | Gote[lower-alpha 11] | No. of moves | Date | Guest Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | Taichi Nakamura 6d | Hirotaka Nozuki 7d | 165 | April 7, 2013 | Chikara Akutsu 7d |
| 2 | B | Eiji Iijima 7d | Taichi Takami 4d | 97 | April 14, 2013 | Kiyokazu Katsumata 6d |
| 3 | A | Kōji Horiguchi 7d | Takuya Nagase 5d | 106 | April 21, 2013 | Osamu Nakamura 9d |
| 4 | B | Keiji Mori 9d | Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d | 109 | April 28, 2013 | Bungo Fukazaki 9d |
| 5 | B | Hiroki Nakata 8d | Yūki Sasaki 4d | 105 | May 5, 2013 | Kazuo Ishida 9d |
| 6 | A | Daisuke Nakagawa 8d | Ayumu Matsuo 7d | 184 | May 12, 2013 | Takahiro Toyokawa 7d |
| 7 | B | Tadashi Ōishi 5d | Masahiko Urano 8d | 113 | May 19, 2013 | Isao Nakata 7d |
| 8 | A | Amahiko Satō 7d | Takayuki Yamasaki 7d | 155 | May 26, 2013 | Akira Inaba 6d |
| 9 | B | Hisashi Namekata 8d | Manabu Senzaki 8d | 119 | June 2, 2013 | Yoshiharu Habu 3 crown |
| 10 | B | Kensuke Kitahama 8d | Kazuki Kimura 8d | 150 | June 9, 2013 | Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d |
| 11 | B | Isao Nakata 7d | Chikara Akutsu 7d | 120 | June 16, 2013 | Masahiko Urano 8d |
| 12 | B | Kōta Kanai 4d | Keita Inoue 9d | 119 | June 23, 2013 | Tadao Kitajima 6d |
| 13 | A | Yasuaki Murayama 6d | Kōru Abe 4d | 143 | June 30, 2013 | Taichi Nakamura 6d |
| 14 | A | Tetsurō Itodani 6d | Kōhei Funae 5d | 176 | July 7, 2013 | Takayuki Yamasaki 7d |
| 15 | B | Issei Takazaki 6d | Hiroki Iizuka 7d | 119 | July 14, 2013 | Daisuke Nakagawa 8d |
| 16 | A | Akihito Hirose 7d | Shōji Seigawa 5d | 151 | July 21, 2013 | Eiji Iijima 7d |
| 17 | A | Tomohiro Murata 6d | Masayuki Toyoshima 7d | 138 | July 28, 2013 | Takashi Abe 8d |
| 18 | A | Hatsumi Ueda W3d | Kazuhiro Nishikawa 4d | 112 | August 4, 2013 | Makoto Tobe 6d |
Round 2
A total of 16 games were played in round 2. Play began on August 11, 2013 and ended on November 24, 2013. The 18 winners from round 1 were joined by the 14 players who had received round 1 byes.
| No. | Block | Sente | Gote | No. of moves | Date | Guest Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Keiji Mori 9d | Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d | 96 | August 11, 2013 | Michio Takahashi 9d |
| 2 | A | Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin | Ayumu Matsuo 7d | 125 | August 18, 2013 | Hirotaka Nozuki 7d |
| 3 | A | Taichi Nakamura 6d | Michio Takahashi 9d | 104 | August 25, 2013 | Kōichi Fukaura 9d |
| 4 | B | Eiji Iijima 7d | Tadahisa Maruyama 9d | 88 | September 1, 2013 | Akira Watanabe NHK Cup |
| 5 | A | Amahiko Satō 7d | Yasuaki Murayama 6d | 120 | September 8, 2013 | Kazuki Kimura 8d |
| 6 | B | Kōta Kanai 5d | Toshiaki Kubo 9d | 117 | September 15, 2013 | Takeshi Fujii 9d |
| 7 | B | Daisuke Suzuki 8d | Issei Takazaki 6d | 212 | September 22, 2013 | Manabu Senzaki 8d |
| 8 | A | Masayuki Toyoshima 7d | Yasumitsu Satō 9d | 103 | September 29, 2013 | Kōji Tanigawa 9d |
| 9 | A | Akira Watanabe NHK Cup | Akihito Hirose 7d | 98 | October 6, 2013 | Amahiko Satō 7d |
| 10 | B | Hiroki Nakata 8d | Takanori Hashimoto 8d | 117 | October 13, 2013 | Ayumu Matsuo 7d |
| 11 | A | Kōji Tanigawa 9d | Kazuhiro Nishikawa 4d | 124 | October 20, 2013 | Toshiaki Kubo 9d |
| 12 | B | Yoshiharu Habu 3 crown | Kazuki Kimura 8d | 131 | October 27, 2013 | Yasumitsu Satō 9d |
| 13 | A | Masataka Gōda 9d | Takuya Nagase 6d | 105 | November 3, 2013 | Taku Morishita 9d |
| 14 | B | Hiroyuki Miura 9d | Chikara Akutsu 7d | 99 | November 10, 2013 | Hisashi Namekata 8d |
| 15 | B | Tadashi Ōishi 6d | Hisashi Namekata 8d | 77 | November 17, 2013 | Kensuke Kitahama 8d |
| 16 | A | Kōhei Funae 5d | Kōichi Fukaura 9d | 85 | November 24, 2013 | Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d |
Round 3
Play began on December 1, 2013 and ended on January 26, 2014. Out of the 18 preliminary tournament winners, only the following four made it to round 3: Kanai 5d, Nishikawa 4d, Takazaki 6d and Funae 5d
| No. | Block | Sente | Gote | No. of moves | Date | Guest Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Tadahisa Maruyama 9d | Kōta Kanai 5d | 149 | December 1, 2013 | Masataka Gōda 9d |
| 2 | A | Akihito Hirose 7d | Yasuaki Murayama 6d | 124 | December 8, 2013 | Daisuke Suzuki 8d |
| 3 | A | Masataka Gōda 9d | Michio Takahashi 9d | 81 | December 15, 2013 | Osamu Nakamura 9d |
| 4 | B | Yoshiharu Habu 3 crown | Tadashi Ōishi 6d | 126 | December 22, 2013 | Takayuki Yamasaki 8d |
| 5 | B | Hiroyuki Miura 9d | Issei Takazaki 6d | 163 | January 5, 2014 | Akihito Hirose 7d |
| 6 | B | Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d | Hiroki Nakata 8d | 129 | January 12, 2014 | Akira Shima 9d |
| 7 | A | Toshiyuki Moriuchi 2 crown[lower-alpha 12] | Kōhei Funae 5d | 117 | January 19, 2014 | Takashi Abe 8d |
| 8 | A | Masayuki Toyoshima 7d | Kazuhiro Nishikawa 4d | 154 | January 26, 2014 | Akira Inaba 7d |
Quarterfinals
The eight remaining players were paired off against each other with play beginning on February 2 and ending on February 23, 2014. Only one major titleholder, Moriuchi 2 crown, made it as far as the quarterfinals.
| No. | Block | Sente | Gote | No. of moves | Date | Guest Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | Toshiyuki Moriuchi 2 Crown | Masataka Gōda 9d | 120 | February 2, 2014 | Yasumitsu Satō 9d |
| 2 | B | Tadahisa Maruyama 9d | Hiroyuki Miura 9d | 117 | February 9, 2014 | Kazuki Kimura 8d |
| 3 | A | Yoshiaki Murayama 6d | Kazuhiro Nishikawa 4d | 117 | February 16, 2014 | Chikara Akutsu 8d |
| 4 | B | Tadashi Ōishi 6d | Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d | 102 | February 23, 2014 | Masayuki Toyoshima 7d |
Semifinals
The two remaining players from each block with paired against each other to determine the respective block winners. The 1st semifinal game between Kazuhiro Nishikawa 4d (sente) and Masataka Gōda 9d (gote) was broadcast on March 2, 2014. Gōda won the game in 128 moves, thus stopping Nishikawa's NHK Cup winning streak at six. [lower-alpha 13] The guest analyst was Kunio Naitō 9d. The 2nd semifinal game was between Tadashi Ōishi 6d (sente) and Tadahisa Maruyama 9d (gote). The game was broadcast on March 9, 2014 and won by Maruyama in 104 moves. The guest analyst was Daisuke Katagami 6d.
Finals
After 112 preliminary tournament games and 48 main tournament games involving 162 players, Tadashisa Maruyama 9d and Masataka Gōda 9d met in the final broadcast on March 23, 2014. This was the second NHK Cup final appearance for both players: Maruyama defeated Akira Watanabe to win the 55th NHK Cup (2005) and Gōda was runner-up to Daisuke Suzuki in the 49th NHK Cup (1999). The piece toss before the game resulted in Maruyama being sente. Gōda won the game in 82 moves, thus winning the tournament for the first time and becoming the 63rd NHK Cup Champion.[13] The guest analysts for the final match were Toshiyuki Moriuchi 2 crown and Keita Inoue 9d and the hosts of the final were NHK announcer Ryō Nagano and women's professional Rieko Yauchi.
| 63rd NHK Cup Final (82. Sx7g+) Gote: Masataka Gōda 9d Pieces-in-hand: 桂(2)
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| Sente: Tadahisa Maruyama 9d Pieces-in-hand: 角金桂歩(2) |
The game score and a diagram showing the final position is given below.[14]
Sente: Tadahisa Maruyama 9d
Gote: Masataka Gōda 9d
Opening: Yokufudori
1. P-2f, 2. P-3d, 3. P-7f, 4. P-8d, 5. P-2e, 6. P-8e, 7. G-7h, 8. G-3b, 9. P-2d, 10. Px2d, 11. Rx2d, 12. P-8f, 13. Px8f, 14. Rx8f, 15. Rx3d, 16. B-3c, 17. K-5h, 18. K-4a, 19. P-3f, 20. G-5a, 21. N-3g, 22. S-6b, 23. S-3h, 24. S-2b, 25. P-9f, 26. P-9d, 27. N-4e, 28. P*3g, 29. Sx3g, 30. Bx8h+, 31. Sx8h, 32. B*5e, 33. B*7g, 34. Rx7f, 35. R-8d, 36. Bx3g+, 37. Rx8a+, 38. R-7e, 39. G-4h, 40. +Bx4h, 41. Kx4h, 42. Rx4e, 43. B*3d, 44. R-7e, 45. K-5h, 46. S-3c, 47. B-1f, 48. N*6e, 49. P*2d, 50. P*2b, 51. +Rx9a, 52. Nx7g+, 53. Sx7g, 54. B*3g, 55. N*3e, 56. P*3d, 57. L*4f, 58. S*4b, 59. P*7b, 60. Px3e, 61. P-6f, 62. N*8e, 63. P-7a+, 64. Nx7g+, 65. Nx7g, 66. S*7f, 67. N*8i, 68. G*5i, 69. K-6h, 70. B-4h+, 71. +P-7b, 72. +B-5h, 73. K-7i, 74. +B-6i, 75. K-8h, 76. +Bx7h, 77. Kx7h, 78. G*6g, 79. K-8h, 80. Gx7g, 81.Nx7g, 82. Sx7g+, sente resigns (diagram)
The final tournament bracket is shown below.
Other
- Sente won 27 (a little more than 55%) of the 49 games.
- The average number of moves for the main tournament games was 122. The most moves played in a single game was 212 (Rd. 2, Suzuki 8d vs. Takazaki 6d) while the fewest number of moves played was 77 (Rd. 2, Ōishi 6d vs. Namekata 8d).
- There were no replays resulting from repetition (千日手 sennichite) or impasse (持将棋 jishōgi), and there were no disqualifications due to illegal moves[15] or time forfeits.
- The age breakdown (age at start of the tournament) for the players who qualified was as follows: 10–19 years old, 3 players; 20–29 years old, 14 players; 30–39 years old, 15 players; 40–49 years old, 15 players; 50–59 years old, 2 players; 60+ years old, 1 player. The oldest player was Keiji Mori 9d (67 years old) and the youngest player was Kōru Abe 4d (18 years old).
See also
Notes
- ↑ The word kishi refers to shogi players officially awarded professional status by the JSA. Only amateurs strong enough to join and graduate from the JSA's "apprentice professional training school" (奨励会 shōreikai) are awarded kishi status and the rank of professional 4 dan.
- ↑ Women's professionals are recognized by the JSA, but they are only granted kishi status upon completion of the shōrekai. To date, there have been women (including some currently active women's professionals) who have successfully qualified for the shōreikai, but so far not one has successfully graduated. Only three women have made it as far as 1 dan in the shōreikai[4] and of those three only two have made it as far as 3 dan.[5][6]
- ↑ There are six women's major titles: the Women's Meijin, the Women's ōshō, the Women's ōi, the Woman's ōza, the Kurashiki Tōka, and the Mynavi Women's Open.
- ↑ There are six women's major titles. The other titleholders were Kana Satomi (the reigning Women's Meijin, ōi, Women's ōshō, and Kurashiki Tōka) and Momoko Katō (the reigning Women's ōza).
- ↑ "W3d" stands for "Women's professional 3 dan". Women's professionals (joryūkishi) are ranked differently than regular professionals (kishi) by the JSA. The strongest women's professionals are considered to be roughly equivalent in playing strength to 1 or 2 dan apprentice professionals.[8]
- ↑ The Japanese character 冠 means "crown" and is commonly used as an honorific suffix attached to the names of multiple major titleholders; Therefore, "3 crown" (三冠 sankan) means that the player currently holds three major titles. Players holding only one major title are commonly referred to by their title. Non major titleholders are referred to by their rank ("dan").
- ↑ Players overlapping multiple categories are only listed once.
- ↑ The other major titleholders at the end of the previous year were Habu (ōza, ōi, and Kisei), Watanabe (Ryūō), and Gōda (Kiō). Gōda[9] and Satō[10] each actually lost their respective titles to Watanabe in the weeks leading up to the tournament, but by then the bracket had been set.
- ↑ Based upon JSA 2012 calendar year rankings in the following three categories: games played, games won, and winning percentage.[11]
- ↑ Unlike in chess where moves are numbered in pairs, moves in shogi are numbered individually. So, a game that lasts 51 moves means that sente made 26 moves and gote made 25 moves.
- ↑ Gote (後手) refers to "the player who moves second".
- ↑ Challenger Moriuchi defeated defending champion Watanabe in Game 5 of the 26th Ryūō Tournament on November 29, 2013, to take the Ryūō title and, thus become a "2 crown".[12]
- ↑ Nishikawa won three games to win his preliminary tournament, and then his first three main tournament games.
References
- 1 2 "Dai Rokujūsankai NHK Terebi Shōgi tōnamento" 第63回NHKテレビ将棋トーナメント [63rd NHK TV Shogi Tournament] (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
- ↑ "Dai Rokujūsankai NHK Haisen Yosen" 第63回NHK杯戦予選 [63rd NHK Cup preliminaries] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟 [Japan Shogi Association]. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Lesson 4: The Players". 81-square Universe. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
- ↑ "Kato Momoko Shōreikai Ikkyū, Shodan ni Shōdan!" 加藤桃子奨励会1級, 初段に昇段! [Momoko Katō Apprentice Professional 1 Kyū Promoted to 1 Dan] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟 [Japan Shogi Association]. May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- ↑ "Satomi Joryū Sankan, Shōreikai Sandan ni Josei no Kishi e Saishū Kanmon" 里見女流三冠, 奨励会三段に 女性初の棋士へ最終関門 [Satomi Women's 3 Crown, Promoted to Apprentice Professional 3 Dan, Last Barrier Before Becoming First Woman "Regular" Shogi Professional]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). December 23, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- ↑ Fukamatsu, Shinji (5 December 2015). "Jōsei Hatsu no Kishi Tanjō e Zenshin Nishiyama Tomoka, Futarime no San Dan ni" 女性初の棋士誕生へ前進 西山朋佳, 2人目の三段に [Another step towards first female kishi, Tomoka Nishiyama becomes second woman promoted to 3 dan]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 7 March 2016.
- ↑ "Taikyoku no Ruru" 対局のルール [Game rules] (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
- ↑ Hosking, Tony (1997). The Art of Shogi. Stratford-upon-Avon, England: The Shogi Foundation. p. 6. ISBN 978-0953108909.
- ↑ "Dai Sanjūhakki Kiōsen" 第38期棋王戦 [38th Kio Tournament] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟 [Japan Shogi Association]. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Dai Rokujuniki Ōshōsen" 第62期王将戦 [62nd Osho Tournament] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟 [Japan Shogi Association]. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Kako no Kiroku Ichiran" 過去の記録一覧 [List of Past Results] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟 [Japan Shogi Association]. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Dai Nijūrokki Ryūōsen" 第26期竜王戦 [26th Ryuo Tournament] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟 [Japan Shogi Association]. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Gōda Kudan, Hatsu V Shōgi NHKhai" 郷田九段, 初V 将棋NHK杯 [Gōda 9 dan, First-time Champion, Shōgi NHK Cup]. Asahi Shimbun Digital (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan. March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
- ↑ "NHKhai Terebi Shōgi Tōnamento Kifu, 2014nen 3gatsu 23nichi Dai 63kai NHKhai Kesshō" NHK杯テレビ将棋トーナメント棋譜, 2014年3月23日第63回NHK杯決勝 [NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament game score, 63rd NHK Cup Final (March 23, 2014)] (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
- ↑ "Hansoku ni Tsuite" 5.反則について [Rules violations] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟 [Japan Shogi Association]. Retrieved April 2, 2014.