is one of the eight major title tournaments in professional shogi. The word means the "king of the board" (i.e. it is a combination of the kanji characters for and ).
Overview The tournament started in 1974 as a continuation of the () held from 1961 to 1973, which itself was a continuation of the () held from 1954 to 1956 and its successor the ( held from 1957 to 1960. The Kiō tournament was promoted to a major 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.
Lifetime Kiō Lifetime (Eisei) 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 (the 20th Kiō Match), 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.YearWinnerScoreOpponent1 1975 Nobuyuki Ōuchi (League)2 1976 Hifumi Katō 3-0 Nobuyuki Ōuchi3 1977 Hifumi Katō (2) 3-0 Makoto Nakahara4 1978 Kunio Yonenaga 3-2 Hifumi Katō5 1979 Makoto Nakahara 3-1 Kunio Yonenaga6 1980 Kunio Yonenaga (2) 3-1 Makoto Nakahara7 1981 Kunio Yonenaga (3) 3-2 Hidemitsu Moriyasu8 1982 Kunio Yonenaga (4) 3-0 Yasuharu Oyama9 1983 Kunio Yonenaga (5) 3-1 Hidemitsu Moriyasu10 1984 Kiyozumi Kiriyama 3-1 Kunio Yonenaga11 1985 Kōji Tanigawa 3-0 Kiyozumi Kiriyama12 1986 Michio Takahashi 3-1 Kōji Tanigawa13 1987 Koji Tanigawa (2) 3-2 Michio Takahashi14 1988 Yoshikazu Minami 3-2 Kōji Tanigawa15 1989 Yoshikazu Minami (2) 3-0 Yasuharu Oyama16 1990 Yoshiharu Habu 3-1 Yoshikazu Minami17 1991 Yoshiharu Habu (2) 3-1 Yoshikazu Minami18 1992 Yoshiharu Habu (3) 3-2 Kōji Tanigawa19 1993 Yoshiharu Habu (4) 3-0 Yoshikazu Minami20 1994 Yoshiharu Habu (5) 3-0 Taku Morishita21 1995 Yoshiharu Habu (6) 3-0 Michio Takahashi22 1996 Yoshiharu Habu (7) 3-0 Taku Morishita23 1997 Yoshiharu Habu (8) 3-1 Masataka Gōda24 1998 Yoshiharu Habu (9) 3-0 Yasumitsu Sato25 1999 Yoshiharu Habu (10) 3-1 Toshiyuki Moriuchi26 2000 Yoshiharu Habu (11) 3-1 Toshiaki Kubo27 2001 Yoshiharu Habu (12) 3-1 Yasumitsu Sato28 2002 Tadahisa Maruyama 3-2 Yoshiharu Habu29 2003 Kōji Tanigawa (3) 3-1 Tadahisa Maruyama30 2004 Yoshiharu Habu (13) 3-0 Kōji Tanigawa31 2005 Toshiyuki Moriuchi 3-1 Yoshiharu Habu32 2006 Yasumitsu Sato 3-2 Toshiyuki Moriuchi33 2007 Yasumitsu Sato (2) 3-2 Yoshiharu Habu34 2008 Toshiaki Kubo 3-2 Yasumitsu Sato35 2009 Toshiaki Kubo (2) 3-2 Yasumitsu Sato36 2010 Toshiaki Kubo (3) 3-1 Akira Watanabe37 2011 Masataka Gōda 3-1 Toshiaki Kubo38 2012 Akira Watanabe 3-1 Masataka Gōda392013Akira Watanabe (2)3-0 Hiroyuki Miura402014Akira Watanabe (3)3-0Yoshiharu Habu412015Akira Watanabe (4)3-1 Amahiko Satō422016Akira Watanabe (5)3-2 Shōta Chida432017Akira Watanabe (6)3-2Takuya Nagase442018Akira Watanabe (7)3-1Akihito Hirose452019Akira Watanabe (8)3-1Kei Honda462020Akira Watanabe (9)3-1Tetsurō Itodani472021Akira Watanabe (10)3-1Takuya Nagase482022Sōta Fujii3-1Akira Watanabe492023Sōta Fujii (2)3-0 Takumi Itō502024Sōta Fujii (3)30Yasuhiro Masuda512025Sōta Fujii (4)32Yasuhiro Masuda
Records Most titles overall: Yoshiharu Habu, 13 Most consecutive titles: Yoshiharu Habu, 12 in a row (1991-2002)
Notes
References
External links Kiō Match Official Site by Kyodo News and the Japanese Shogi Association