Kiō


Kiō is one of the eight major title tournaments in professional shogi. The word means the 'king of shogi'.

Overview

The tournament started in 1974 as a continuation of the Saikyōshakettei tournament, which was held from 1961 to 1973. The Kiō tournament was promoted to a title tournament in 1975. The championship match is held from February to March. The challenger for the Kiō title is determined by the first and second preliminary rounds. In the second round, the losers in the semi-finals and final play consolation games, then the winners of the final and consolation-final advance to a two-game playoff. The winner of the consolation games has to win both games to become the challenger while the winner of the final has to win only one of the two games. The first player to win three games in the championship becomes the new Kiō titleholder.

Lifetime Kiō

Lifetime Kiō is the title given to a player who won the championship five times in a row. Active players may qualify for this title, but it is only officially awarded upon their retirement or death. In 1995, Yoshiharu Habu won his fifth Kiō title in a row, thus becoming the first professional to qualify for the title. In 2017, Akira Watanabe won his fifth title in a row to join Habu as the only professionals to have accomplished this feat.

Winners

The following table shows a list of past winners.
No.YearWinnerScoreOpponent
11975Nobuyuki Ōuchi
21976Hifumi Katō3-0Nobuyuki Ōuchi
31977Hifumi Katō 3-0Makoto Nakahara
41978Kunio Yonenaga3-2Hifumi Katō
51979Makoto Nakahara3-1Kunio Yonenaga
61980Kunio Yonenaga 3-1Makoto Nakahara
71981Kunio Yonenaga 3-2Hidemitsu Moriyasu
81982Kunio Yonenaga 3-0Yasuharu Oyama
91983Kunio Yonenaga 3-1Hidemitsu Moriyasu
101984Kiyozumi Kiriyama3-1Kunio Yonenaga
111985Koji Tanigawa3-0Kiyozumi Kiriyama
121986Michio Takahashi3-1Koji Tanigawa
131987Koji Tanigawa 3-2Michio Takahashi
141988Yoshikazu Minami3-2Koji Tanigawa
151989Yoshikazu Minami 3-0Yasuharu Oyama
161990Yoshiharu Habu3-1Yoshikazu Minami
171991Yoshiharu Habu 3-1Yoshikazu Minami
181992Yoshiharu Habu 3-2Koji Tanigawa
191993Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Yoshikazu Minami
201994Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Taku Morishita
211995Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Michio Takahashi
221996Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Taku Morishita
231997Yoshiharu Habu 3-1Masataka Gōda
241998Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Yasumitsu Sato
251999Yoshiharu Habu 3-1Toshiyuki Moriuchi
262000Yoshiharu Habu 3-1Toshiaki Kubo
272001Yoshiharu Habu 3-1Yasumitsu Sato
282002Tadahisa Maruyama3-2Yoshiharu Habu
292003Koji Tanigawa 3-1Tadahisa Maruyama
302004Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Koji Tanigawa
312005Toshiyuki Moriuchi3-1Yoshiharu Habu
322006Yasumitsu Sato3-2Toshiyuki Moriuchi
332007Yasumitsu Sato 3-2Yoshiharu Habu
342008Toshiaki Kubo3-2Yasumitsu Sato
352009Toshiaki Kubo 3-2Yasumitsu Sato
362010Toshiaki Kubo 3-1Akira Watanabe
372011Masataka Gōda3-1Toshiaki Kubo
382012Akira Watanabe3-1Masataka Gōda
392013Akira Watanabe 3-0Hiroyuki Miura
402014Akira Watanabe 3-0Yoshiharu Habu
412015Akira Watanabe 3-1Amahiko Satō
422016Akira Watanabe 3-2Shōta Chida
432017Akira Watanabe 3-2Takuya Nagase
442018Akira Watanabe 3-1Akihito Hirose
452019Akira Watanabe 3-1Kei Honda

Records