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]

## Past winners[edit]

No. | Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up

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1 | 1977 | Fujisawa Hideyuki | 4–1 | Hashimoto Utaro
2 | 1978 | 4–3 | Kato Masao
3 | 1979 | 4–1 | Ishida Yoshio
4 | 1980 | 4–1 | Rin Kaiho
5 | 1981 | 4–0 | Otake Hideo
6 | 1982 | 4–3 | Rin Kaiho
7 | 1983 | Cho Chikun | 4–3 | Fujisawa Hideyuki
8 | 1984 | 4–2 | Rin Kaiho
9 | 1985 | 4–3 | Takemiya Masaki
10 | 1986 | Kobayashi Koichi | 4–2 | Cho Chikun
11 | 1987 | 4–1 | Takemiya Masaki
12 | 1988 | 4–1 | Kato Masao
13 | 1989 | 4–1 | Takemiya Masaki
14 | 1990 | 4–1 | Otake Hideo
15 | 1991 | 4–3 | Kato Masao
16 | 1992 | 4–3 | Yamashiro Hiroshi
17 | 1993 | 4–3 | Kato Masao
18 | 1994 | Cho Chikun | 4–2 | Kobayashi Koichi
19 | 1995 | Kobayashi Satoru | 4–2 | Cho Chikun
20 | 1996 | Cho Chikun | 4–3 | Kobayashi Satoru
21 | 1997 | 4–1
22 | 1998 | 4–2 | Yoda Norimoto
23 | 1999 | 4–2 | Kobayashi Koichi
24 | 2000 | O Rissei | 4–2 | Cho Chikun
25 | 2001 | 4–2 | Cho Sonjin
26 | 2002 | 4–2 | Ryu Shikun
27 | 2003 | Yamashita Keigo | 4–1 | O Rissei
28 | 2004 | Hane Naoki | 4–3 | Yamashita Keigo
29 | 2005 | 4–3 | Yuki Satoshi
30 | 2006 | Yamashita Keigo | 4–0 | Hane Naoki
31 | 2007 | 4–0 | Kobayashi Satoru
32 | 2008 | 4–3 | Cho Chikun
33 | 2009 | 4–2 | Yoda Norimoto
34 | 2010 | Cho U | 4–1 | Yamashita Keigo
35 | 2011 | 4–2 | Iyama Yuta
36 | 2012 | 4–3 | Takao Shinji
37 | 2013 | Iyama Yuta | 4–2 | Cho U
38 | 2014 | 4–2 | Yamashita Keigo
39 | 2015 | 4–3
40 | 2016 | 4–0
41 | 2017 | 4–2 | Kono Rin
42 | 2018 | 4–0 | Ichiriki Ryo
43 | 2019 | 4–3 | Yamashita Keigo
44 | 2020 | 4–2 | Kono Rin
45 | 2021 | 4–1
46 | 2022 | Ichiriki Ryo | 4–3 | Iyama Yuta
47 | 2023 | 4–2 | Shibano Toramaru
48 | 2023 | 4–3 | Iyama Yuta

## 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 himself 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]

1. ^ "第47期 棋聖戦". Nihon Ki-in (in Japanese).
2. ^ a b "Go Tournament: Kisei". gogameworld.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
3. ^ "Abolition of the rating tournament". nihonkiin.or.jp/english. Retrieved 29 June 2011.

## External links[edit]

* Official Kisei page of Yomiuri Shinbun (in Japanese)
* Kisei title games

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* t
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Japanese Go titles

Major|

* Kisei
* Meijin
* Honinbo
* Ōza
* Tengen
* Gosei
* Jūdan

Minor|

* Agon Kiriyama Cup
* Ryusei
* NHK Cup
* Shinjin-O
* Okan
* Kansai Ki-in Championship
* Wakagoi Cup

Defunct|

* Asahi Pro Best Ten
* Asahi Top Eight Players
* Asahi Top Position
* Chikurin
* Dai-ichi
* Hayago Championship
* Hayago Meijin
* Hosu
* IBM Cup
* Igo Masters Cup
* Igo Senshuken
* JAL Super Hayago Championship
* JT Cup
* Kakusei
* Kirin Cup
* NEC Shun-Ei
* Nihon Ki-In Championship
* Old Meijin
* Phoenix Cup
* Prime Minister Cup
* Ryuen Cup
* Shin-Ei
* Tatsujin
* Daiwa Cup
* Daiwa Cup Grand Champion
* NEC Cup

Women's|

* Women's Honinbo
* Women's Meijin
* Women's Kisei
* Women's Saikyo
* Aizu Central Hospital Cup

Defunct|

* Women's Nihon Ki-in Championship
* Women's Kakusei
* Women's JAL Super Hayago
* Kansai Lady's Tournament

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* t
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Kisei

Past tournaments|

* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

Past winners|

* Hideyuki Fujisawa (1977–1982)
* Cho Chikun (1983–1985)
* Koichi Kobayashi (1986–1993)
* Cho Chikun (1994)
* Satoru Kobayashi (1995)
* Cho Chikun (1996–1999)
* Ō Rissei (2000–2002)
* Keigo Yamashita (2003)
* Naoki Hane (2004–2005)
* Keigo Yamashita (2006–2009)
* Cho U (2010–2012)
* Yuta Iyama (2013–2021)
* Ryo Ichiriki (2022–)

Honorary winners|

* Hideyuki Fujisawa
* Koichi Kobayashi

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