Osho - shogi

Osho (王将 Ōshō) is one of the seven titles in Japanese professional shogi. The tournament is co-sponsored by Sports Nippon and the Mainichi Shimbun with additional support received from the Igo & Shogi Channel. The tournament was first held in 1950 and was elevated to major title status the following year in 1951.

There is a separate tournament held each year for amateurs called the "Amateur Osho Tournament which is sponsored by the Japan Shogi Association with support from the Igo & Shogi Channel. The winner is awarded the title "Amateur Osho" (アマ王将 Ama Ōshō).

The word also refers to the piece called the "King" in shogi.

Format

The tournament is open to all shogi professionals (正棋士 Seikishi) and takes place in four stages. The first and second preliminary rounds consist of multiple single-elimination tournaments in which the first round winners advance to compete against each other in the second round. The three winners of the second round tournaments then advance to a round-robin league called the "challenger league (挑戦者決定リーグ戦 Chōsensha Kettei Rīgusen)" along with four seeded players. The winner of the challenger league then advances to a best-of-seven championship match against the reigning Osho title holder. If two players or more finish tied for first in the challenger league, a single-game playoff between the two highest seeded players is held to determine the challenger. The time controls are three hours per player for the two preliminary rounds, four hours per player for the challenger league, and eight hours per player for the championship match. The championship match is held from January to March.

Winners

The following is a list of the winners and runner-ups for past Osho matches.

No. Year Winner Score Opponent 1 1951 Kozo Masuda 4-1 Yoshio Kimura 2 1952 Yasuharu Oyama 4-3 Yuzo Maruta 3 1953 Yasuharu Oyama 4-2 Kozo Masuda 4 1954 Yasuharu Oyama 4-1 Shigeyuki Matsuda 5 1955 Kozo Masuda 3-0 Yasuharu Oyama 6 1956 Kozo Masuda 4-2 Yasuharu Oyama 7 1957 Yasuharu Oyama 4-3 Kozo Masuda 8 1958 Yasuharu Oyama 3-0 Kazukiyo Takashima 9 1959 Yasuharu Oyama 4-2 Tatsuya Futakami 10 1960 Yasuharu Oyama 4-2 Tatsuya Futakami 11 1961 Yasuharu Oyama 3-0 Hifumi Kato 12 1962 Tatsuya Futakami 4-2 Yasuharu Oyama 13 1963 Yasuharu Oyama 3-0 Tatsuya Futakami 14 1964 Yasuharu Oyama 4-1 Hiroji Kato 15 1965 Yasuharu Oyama 4-3 Michiyoshi Yamada 16 1966 Yasuharu Oyama 4-1 Hifumi Kato 17 1967 Yasuharu Oyama 4-2 Hifumi Kato 18 1968 Yasuharu Oyama 4-0 Kunio Naito 19 1969 Yasuharu Oyama 4-1 Tatsuya Futakami 20 1970 Yasuharu Oyama 4-3 Makoto Nakahara 21 1971 Yasuharu Oyama 4-3 Michio Ariyoshi 22 1972 Makoto Nakahara 4-0 Yasuharu Oyama 23 1973 Makoto Nakahara 4-2 Kunio Yonenaga 24 1974 Makoto Nakahara 4-3 Kunio Yonenaga 25 1975 Makoto Nakahara 4-1 Michio Ariyoshi 26 1976 Makoto Nakahara 4-2 Yasuharu Oyama 27 1977 Makoto Nakahara 4-2 Michio Ariyoshi 28 1978 Hifumi Kato 4-1 Makoto Nakahara 29 1979 Yasuharu Oyama 4-2 Hifumi Kato 30 1980 Yasuharu Oyama 4-1 Kunio Yonenaga 31 1981 Yasuharu Oyama 4-3 Makoto Nakahara 32 1982 Kunio Yonenaga 4-1 Yasuharu Oyama

No. Year Winner Score Opponent 33 1983 Kunio Yonenaga 4-1 Keiji Mori 34 1984 Makoto Nakahara 4-1 Kunio Yonenaga 35 1985 Osamu Nakamura 4-2 Makoto Nakahara 36 1986 Osamu Nakamura 4-2 Makoto Nakahara 37 1987 Yoshikazu Minami 4-3 Osamu Nakamura 38 1988 Yoshikazu Minami 4-0 Akira Shima 39 1989 Kunio Yonenaga 4-3 Yoshikazu Minami 40 1990 Yoshikazu Minami 4-2 Kunio Yonenaga 41 1991 Koji Tanigawa 4-1 Yoshikazu Minami 42 1992 Koji Tanigawa 4-0 Satoshi Murayama 43 1993 Koji Tanigawa 4-2 Makoto Nakahara 44 1994 Koji Tanigawa 4-3 Yoshiharu Habu 45 1995 Yoshiharu Habu 4-0 Koji Tanigawa 46 1996 Yoshiharu Habu 4-0 Koji Tanigawa 47 1997 Yoshiharu Habu 4-1 Yasumitsu Sato 48 1998 Yoshiharu Habu 4-1 Taku Morishita 49 1999 Yoshiharu Habu 4-0 Yasumitsu Sato 50 2000 Yoshiharu Habu 4-1 Koji Tanigawa 51 2001 Yasumitsu Sato 4-2 Yoshiharu Habu 52 2002 Yoshiharu Habu 4-0 Yasumitsu Sato 53 2003 Toshiyuki Moriuchi 4-2 Yoshiharu Habu 54 2004 Yoshiharu Habu 4-0 Toshiyuki Moriuchi 55 2005 Yoshiharu Habu 4-3 Yasumitsu Sato 56 2006 Yoshiharu Habu 4-3 Yasumitsu Sato 57 2007 Yoshiharu Habu 4-1 Toshiaki Kubo 58 2008 Yoshiharu Habu 4-3 Koichi Fukaura 59 2009 Toshiaki Kubo 4-2 Yoshiharu Habu 60 2010 Toshiaki Kubo 4-2 Masayuki Toyoshima 61 2011 Yasumitsu Sato 4-1 Toshiaki Kubo 62 2012 Akira Watanabe 4-1 Yasumitsu Sato 63 2013 Akira Watanabe 4-3 Yoshiharu Habu 64 2014 Masataka Goda 4-3 Akira Watanabe

Records

• Most titles overall: Yasuharu Oyama, 20
• Most consecutive titles: Yasuharu Oyama, 9 in a row (1963-1971)

Lifetime Osho

"Lifetime Osho" (永世王将 Eisei Ōshō) is the title given to a player who has won the championship ten times. An active player may qualify for the title, but it is only official awarded upon retirement or death. Yasuharu Oyama and Yoshiharu Habu are the only players who have qualified for this title: Oyama qualified in 1973 and Habu qualified for the title in 2007.