Kisei (shogi)


Kisei is one of the eight major titles in Japanese professional shogi.
The word Kisei means an excellent player of shogi or go and has been translated as "shogi saint".
Kisei tournament started in 1962. With the creation of the Kisei, there were five major title tournaments along with the Meijin, Tenth Dan, Ōshō, and Ōi titles.
Until the year 1994, it was held twice a year.
The challenger for Kisei title holder is determined by first, second, and final preliminary rounds.
The player that wins three games out of five first in the championship will become the new Kisei title holder.

Lifetime Kisei

The Lifetime Kisei title is awarded to a player who has won Kisei Championship five times. Active players may qualify for this title, but it is only officially awarded upon their retirement or death.
The following professionals have qualified for this title:
No.YearWinnerScoreOpponent
11962Yasuharu Ōyama3-1Masao Tsukada
21963 firstYasuharu Ōyama 3-0Tatsuya Futakami
31963 secondYasuharu Ōyama 3-1Kozoh Masuda
41964 firstYasuharu Ōyama 3-2Shigeru Sekine
51964 secondYasuharu Ōyama 3-0So-etsu Homma
61965 firstYasuharu Ōyama 3-2Kozoh Masuda
71965 secondYasuharu Ōyama 3-2Tatsuya Futakami
81966 firstTatsuya Futakami3-1Yasuharu Ōyama
91966 secondYasuharu Ōyama 3-0Tatsuya Futakami
101967 firstMichiyoshi Yamada3-1Yasuharu Ōyama
111967 secondMichiyoshi Yamada 3-2Makoto Nakahara
121968 firstMakoto Nakahara3-1Michiyoshi Yamada
131968 secondMakoto Nakahara 3-1Yasuharu Ōyama
141969 firstMakoto Nakahara 3-0Michiyoshi Yamada
151969 secondKunio Naitō3-1Makoto Nakahara
161970 firstYasuharu Ōyama 3-1Kunio Naitō
171970 secondMakoto Nakahara 3-0Yasuharu Ōyama
181971 firstMakoto Nakahara 3-1Yasuharu Ōyama
191971 secondMakoto Nakahara 3-1Tatsuya Futakami
201972 firstMakoto Nakahara 3-1Kunio Naitō
211972 secondMichio Ariyoshi3-2Makoto Nakahara
221973 firstKunio Yonenaga3-1Michio Ariyoshi
231973 secondKunio Naitō 3-2Kunio Yonenaga
241974 firstYasuharu Ōyama 3-1Kunio Naitō
251974 secondYasuharu Ōyama 3-0Kunio Yonenaga
261975 firstYasuharu Ōyama 3-1Tatsuya Futakami
271975 secondYasuharu Ōyama 3-0Tatsuya Futakami
281976 firstYasuharu Ōyama 3-1Kiyozumi Kiriyama
291976 secondYasuharu Ōyama 3-2Kunio Yonenaga
301977 firstYasuharu Ōyama 3-1Keiji Mori
311977 secondMakoto Nakahara 3-2Yasuharu Ōyama
321978 firstMakoto Nakahara 3-0Michio Ariyoshi
331978 secondMakoto Nakahara 3-1Tatsuya Futakami
341979 firstMakoto Nakahara 3-1Hifumi Katoh
351979 secondMakoto Nakahara 3-0Hitoshige Awaji
361980 firstKunio Yonenaga 3-1Makoto Nakahara
371980 secondTatsuya Futakami 3-1Kunio Yonenaga
381981 firstTatsuya Futakami 3-0Makoto Nakahara
391981 secondTatsuya Futakami 3-0Hifumi Katoh
401982 firstKeiji Mori3-0Tatsuya Futakami
411982 secondMakoto Nakahara 3-1Keiji Mori
421983 firstHidemitsu Moriyasu3-2Makoto Nakahara
431983 secondKunio Yonenaga 3-1Hidemitsu Moriyasu
441984 firstKunio Yonenaga 3-0Koji Tanigawa
451984 secondKunio Yonenaga 3-2Osamu Nakamura
461985 firstKunio Yonenaga 3-1Osamu Katsuura
471985 secondKunio Yonenaga 3-0Osamu Nakamura
481986 firstKiyozumi Kiriyama3-1Kunio Yonenaga
491986 secondKiyozumi Kiriyama 3-1Yoshikazu Minami
501987 firstKiyozumi Kiriyama 3-0Kazuyoshi Nishimura
511987 secondYoshikazu Minami3-0Kiyozumi Kiriyama
521988 firstTorahiko Tanaka3-2Yoshikazu Minami
531988 secondMakoto Nakahara 3-2Torahiko Tanaka
541989 firstMakoto Nakahara 3-1Yoshikazu Minami
551989 secondMakoto Nakahara 3-2Nobuyuki Yashiki
561990 firstNobuyuki Yashiki3-2Makoto Nakahara
571990 secondNobuyuki Yashiki 3-1Taku Morishita
581991 firstYoshikazu Minami 3-2Nobuyuki Yashiki
591991 secondKoji Tanigawa3-0Yoshikazu Minami
601992 firstKoji Tanigawa 3-1Masataka Gōda
611992 secondKoji Tanigawa 3-0Masataka Gōda
621993 firstYoshiharu Habu3-1Koji Tanigawa
631993 secondYoshiharu Habu 3-2Koji Tanigawa
641994 firstYoshiharu Habu 3-1Koji Tanigawa
651994 secondYoshiharu Habu 3-0Akira Shima
661995Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Hiroyuki Miura
671996Hiroyuki Miura3-2Yoshiharu Habu
681997Nobuyuki Yashiki 3-1Hiroyuki Miura
691998Masataka Gōda3-0Nobuyuki Yashiki
701999Koji Tanigawa 3-0Masataka Gōda
712000Yoshiharu Habu 3-2Koji Tanigawa
722001Masataka Gōda 3-2Yoshiharu Habu
732002Yasumitsu Satō3-2Masataka Gōda
742003Yasumitsu Satō 3-0Tadahisa Maruyama
752004Yasumitsu Satō 3-0Toshiyuki Moriuchi
762005Yasumitsu Satō 3-2Yoshiharu Habu
772006Yasumitsu Satō 3-0Daisuke Suzuki
782007Yasumitsu Satō 3-1Akira Watanabe
792008Yoshiharu Habu 3-2Yasumitsu Satō
802009Yoshiharu Habu 3-2Kazuki Kimura
812010Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Koichi Fukaura
822011Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Koichi Fukaura
832012Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Taichi Nakamura
842013Yoshiharu Habu 3-1Akira Watanabe
852014Yoshiharu Habu 3-0Toshiyuki Moriuchi
862015Yoshiharu Habu 3-1Masayuki Toyoshima
872016Yoshiharu Habu 3-2Takuya Nagase
882017Yoshiharu Habu 3-1Shintaro Saito
892018Masayuki Toyoshima3-2Yoshiharu Habu
902019Akira Watanabe3-1Masayuki Toyoshima
912020Sōta Fujii3-1Akira Watanabe

Records