NHK Cup (Go)


The NHK Cup , or as it is more commonly known the NHK Cup TV Go Tournament, is a professional Go tournament organized by the Japan Go Association and sponsored by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. The tournament lasts roughly one year from April to the following March. Tournament games are televised each Sunday from 12:30 to 14:00 on NHK Educational TV and live commentary and analysis is provided by two commentators : A host who serves in that role for the entire tournament and a color analyst to provide detailed analysis. Post-game analysis involving the two players and the two commentators takes place once the game has ended. This year marks the 67th time the tournament has been held and the host is Shiho Hoshiai 2P. Prior to 1963, the tournament was broadcast on the radio.

Tournament Format

The tournament is a single-elimination tournament with 50 Japanese Go Association professionals competing for the title of NHK Cup Champion. A fixed number of spots in the main tournament are reserved for "seeded players" while the remaining spots are decided through a series of preliminary tournaments. Once the final 50 players have been determined, they are divided into two blocks of 25 players each.
The tournament consists of 6 rounds: the first 5 rounds determine the winner of each block、and then the two block winners meet in Round 6 for the tournament championship. The reigning title holder and runner-up as well as a select number of other players are awarded first round byes, thus actually only needing to win 5 games in order to win the tournament. The basic time control for each game is 30 seconds per move. In addition, each player has 10 periods of extra thinking time, 1 minute each.
The winner of the tournament receives 5,000,000 Yen in prize money, in addition to the NHK Cup.

Past Winners

The final games of each Cup fall into the following year.
So the first NHK Cup, for example, was officially held in 1953, but decided in 1954.
PlayerTitlesYear Won
Sakata Eio111956 - 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1981
Ōtake Hideo51967, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1993
Yoda Norimoto51990, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999
Yuki Satoshi52008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013
Cho Chikun41982, 1991, 1995, 2006
Cho U42001, 2004, 2007, 2015
Ishida Yoshio31986, 1989, 2000
Iyama Yuta32016, 2017, 2019
Rin Kaiho31969, 1973, 1977
Hashimoto Shōji31966, 1979, 1984
Fujisawa Hideyuki21968, 1980
Hashimoto Utarō21955, 1962
Kobayashi Kōichi21985, 2003
Hane Naoki12005
Honda Kunihisa11983
Ichiriki Ryo12018
Ida Atsushi12014
Iwamoto Kaoru11954
Katō Masao11987
Kitani Minoru11959
Kobayashi Satoru11994
Mimura Tomoyasu12002
Ō Rissei11996
Takagawa Shūkaku11965
Takemiya Masaki11988
Tōno Hiroaki11978
Shimamura Toshihiro11953
Yamada Kimio12010

#YearWinnerRunner-up
1.1953Shimamura ToshihiroTakagawa Kaku
2.1954Iwamoto KaoruFujisawa Hôsai
3.1955Hashimoto UtarōSakata Eio
4.1956Sakata EioFujisawa Hôsai
5.1957Sakata EioKitani Minoru
6.1958Sakata EioTakagawa Kaku
7.1959Kitani MinoruFujisawa Hôsai
8.1960Sakata EioKitani Minoru
9.1961Sakata EioHashimoto Utarō
10.1962Hashimoto UtarōFujisawa Hideyuki
11.1963Sakata EioFujisawa Hideyuki
12.1964Sakata EioMiyashita Hideyuki
13.1965Takagawa KakuFujisawa Hideyuki
14.1966Hashimoto ShōjiFujisawa Hôsai
15.1967Ōtake HideoHashimoto Shōji
16.1968Fujisawa HideyukiFujisawa Hôsai
17.1969Rin KaihoSakata Eio
18.1970Ōtake HideoIshida Yoshio
19.1971Sakata EioŌtake Hideo
20.1972Ōtake HideoHashimoto Shōji
21.1973Rin KaihoKatô Masao
22.1974Ōtake HideoTakemiya Masaki
23.1975Sakata EioGo Seigen
24.1976Sakata EioTakemiya Masaki
25.1977Rin KaihoÔhira Shûzô
26.1978Tōno HiroakiTakagi Shôichi
27.1979Hashimoto ShōjiCho Chikun
28.1980Fujisawa HideyukiTakagi Shôichi
29.1981Sakata EioSugiuchi Masao
30.1982Cho ChikunŌtake Hideo
31.1983Honda KunihisaTakemiya Masaki
32.1984Hashimoto ShōjiIshida Yoshio
33.1985Kobayashi KōichiTakemiya Masaki
34.1986Ishida YoshioRin Kaihô
35.1987Katō MasaoO Rissei
36.1988Takemiya MasakiKobayashi Satoru
37.1989Ishida YoshioŌtake Hideo
38.1990Yoda NorimotoO Meien
39.1991Cho ChikunÔ Rissei
40.1992Yoda NorimotoKatô Masao
41.1993Ōtake HideoKatô Masao
42.1994Kobayashi SatoruKiyonari Tetsuya
43.1995Cho ChikunKobayashi Satoru
44.1996Ō RisseiKobayashi Kôichi
45.1997Yoda NorimotoHonda Kunihisa
46.1998Yoda NorimotoTôno Hiroaki
47.1999Yoda NorimotoImamura Toshiya
48.2000Ishida YoshioCho Chikun
49.2001Cho UHane Naoki
50.2002Mimura TomoyasuÔ Rissei
51.2003Kobayashi KōichiCho Chikun
52.2004Cho UYoda Norimoto
53.2005Hane NaokiImamura Toshiya
54.2006Cho ChikunYûki Satoshi
55.2007Cho UCho Chikun
56.2008Yuki SatoshiTakemiya Masaki
57.2009Yuki SatoshiIyama Yûta
58.2010Yamada KimioYoda Norimoto
59.2011Yuki SatoshiHane Naoki
60.2012Yuki SatoshiIyama Yûta
61.2013Yuki SatoshiKôno Rin
62.2014Ida AtsushiIchiriki Ryô
63.2015Cho UTerayama Rei
64.2016Iyama YutaIchiriki Ryo
65.2017Iyama YutaShida Tatsuya
66.2018Ichiriki RyoIyama Yuta
67.2019Iyama YutaIchiriki Ryo

Lifetime Champions

The title of "Lifetime NHK Cup Champion" is awarded to players who win the tournament 10 times. To date, only one player has won the tournament enough times to be awarded this title: Sakata Eio who won the tournament a total of 11 times.