61st NHK Cup (shogi)

The 61st NHK Cup, or as it is officially known the 61st NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament (第61回NHK杯テレビ将棋トーナメント, dairokujūikkai enueichikeihai terebi shōgi tōnamento) was a professional shogi tournament organized by the Japan Shogi Association and sponsored by Japan's public broadcaster NHK. Play began on April 3, 2011, and ended on March 18, 2012. The 50-player single elimination tournament was won by Yoshiharu Habu. All of the tournament games were shown each Sunday morning on NHK-E. The host (司会者, shikaisha) during the NHK-E broadcasts was female professional Rieko Yauchi.[1]

Participants

Preliminary tournaments

A total of 139 shogi professionals competed in eighteen preliminary tournaments to qualify for the main tournament. These tournaments were one-day tournaments held at the Tokyo Shogi Kaikan and the Kansai Shogi Kaikan, but were not televised. Each tournament consisted of seven or eight players. The initial time control for each player was 20 minutes followed by a 30-second byōyomi.[2]

The female professional seed was determined by a play-in game between Kana Satomi and Tomomi Kai, which was won by Kai.

Brackets from two of the preliminary tournaments are shown below.

7-player preliminary tournament won by Tatsuya Sugai 4d
8-player preliminary tournament won by Takuya Nagase 4d

Main tournament

The first time control for main tournament games was ten minutes per player. Once this was used up, a second time control of 10 one-minute periods of "thinking time" (考慮時間, kōryō jikan) began. Each player was given 30 seconds to make their move. If they did so, then no thinking time periods were used. If, however, they did not, a thinking time period began and they then had up to one minute (more specifically 59 seconds) to make a move before entering the next thinking time period. This process was repeated until a player had used all ten thinking time periods. Then, the final byōyomi time control of 30 seconds per move then began.[1] Sente was determined prior to each game by piece toss.

The 50 players listed below qualified for the main tournament.

No.PlayerRank/Title
A1Tadahisa Maruyama9d
A2Tomomi KaiF3d[lower-alpha 1]
A3Akira Shima9d
A4Takahiro Toyokawa7d
A5Hiroshi Kobayashi7d
A6Kazuki Kimura8d
A7Kōji Tanigawa9d
A8Mamoru Hatakeyama7d
A9Keiji Mori9d
A10Hiroki Nakata8d
A11Shūji Muranaka6d
A12Hiroyuki Miura8d
A13Masataka Gōda9d
A14Kōta Kanai5d
A15Osamu Nakamura9d
A16Yasumitsu Satō9d
A17Takuya Nagase4d
A18Akihito HiroseŌi
A19Chikara Akutsu7d
A20Yoshiyuki Kubota6d
A21Kōhei Funae4d
A22Yasuaki Murayama5d
A23Daisuke Katagami6d
A24Makoto Tobe6d
A25Yoshiharu HabuNHK Cup
No.PlayerRank/Title
B1Akira WatanabeRyūō
B2Amahiko Satō6d
B3Masayuki Toyoshima6d
B4Kōzō Arimori7d
B5Kenjirō Abe5d
B6Michio Takahashi9d
B7Takeshi Fujii9d
B8Akio Ishikawa7d
B9Kōichi Fukaura9d
B10Hisashi Namekata9d
B11Tatsuya Sugai4d
B12Keita Inoue9d
B13Toshiaki Kubo2 crown [lower-alpha 2]
B14Yūsuke Tōyama5d
B15Daisuke Suzuki8d
B16Takayuki Yamasaki7d
B17Mitsunori Makino4d
B18Toshiyuki Moriuchi9d
B19Masataka Sugimoto7d
B20Yūsuke Ina6d
B21Taichi Nakamura5d
B22Ayumu Matsuo7d
B23Nobuyuki Yashiki9d
B24Tadao Kitajima6d
B25Tetsurō Itodani5d

Notes:

  • "No." represents the bracket position of the player in their respective block and "Rank/Title" represents the rank or title(s) held by the player when the original bracket was finalized. A dan/kyū grading system is used for ranking players.
  • Players whose names are in bold were seeded directly into the main tournament and are as follows:[lower-alpha 3]
  1. 60th NHK Cup (four players): Habu (champion), Itodani (runner-up), Maruyama (semifinalist) and Watanabe (semifinalist).
  2. Seven major titleholders (two players): Hirose (Ōi) and Kubo (Ōshō and Kiō)[lower-alpha 4]
  3. Class A (seven players): Miura, Takahashi, Moriuchi, Kimura, Tanigawa, Gōda, Fujii
  4. Class B1 (thirteen players): Inoue, Y. Satō, Fukaura, Namekata, Matsuo, Yamasaki, Yashiki, Suzuki, Toyokawa, Sugimoto, Hatakeyama, Nakamura, and Nakata
  5. Other tournament winners (one player): Abe (Shinjin-Ō)
  6. Female professional (one player): Kai
  7. Others with outstanding records (four players): Kubota (Class B2), Tobe (Class B2), Murayama (Class C1), and Toyoshima (Class C1)[lower-alpha 5]
Among these 32 seeds, the following 14 were given byes in Round 1 and began play in Round 2: Habu, Itodani, Maruyama, Watanabe, Takahashi, Fujii, Inoue, Kubo, Moriuchi, Hirose, Gōda, Miura, Tanigawa, and Kimura.
  • The remaining players qualified by winning preliminary tournaments.

The bracket at the start of the tournament in shown below.

61st NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament bracket (start)

Results

Winners are listed in bold. "Date" refers to the date the game was broadcast. Dan and titles are as of the date the game was broadcast. "Guest Analyst" refers to the kishi who provided commentary during the broadcast.[1] "No. of moves" refers to the total number of moves played in the game.[lower-alpha 6]

Round 1

A total of 18 games were played in round 1. Play began on April 3, 2011, and ended on July 31, 2011. The 18 preliminary tournament winners were paired against 18 seeded players.

No.BlockSenteGote[lower-alpha 7]No. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1BTaichi Nakamura 5dAyumu Matsu 7d108April 3, 2011Manabu Senzaki 8d
2BYūsuke Tōyama 5dDaisuke Suzuki 8d85April 10, 2011Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d
3AOsamu Nakamura 9dKōta Kanai 5d126April 17, 2011Takanori Hashimoto 7d
4BMasataka Sugimoto 7dYūsuke Ina 6d157April 24, 2011Kenji Kobayashi 9d
5AKōhei Funae 4dYasuaki Murayama 5d80May 1, 2011Keita Inoue 9d
6BAmahiko Satō 6dMasayuki Toyoshima 6d102May 8, 2011Eiji Iijima 7d
7AHiroki Nakata 8dShūji Muranaka 6d110May 15, 2011Akira Shima 9d
8AChikara Akutsu 7dYoshiyuki Kubota 6d97May 22, 2011Ayumu Matsuo 7d
9BTadao Kitajima 6dNobuyuki Yashiki 9d115May 29, 2011Daisuke Nakagawa 8d
10ATakuya Nagase 5dYasumitsu Satō 9d131June 5, 2011Daisuke Suzuki 8d
11BKenjirō Abe 5dKōzō Arimori 7d75June 12, 2011Takeshi Fujii 9d
12AMamoru Hatakeyama 7dKeiji Mori 9d153June 19, 2011Yoshikazu Minami 9d
13BKōichi Fukaura 9dAkio Ishikawa 6d130June 26, 2011Osamu Nakamura 9d
14BHisashi Namekata 8dTatsuya Sugai 4d120July 3, 2011Toshiaki Kubo 2 crown
15ATakahiro Toyokawa 7dHiroshi Kobayashi 7d96July 10, 2011Takashi Abe 8d
16ADaisuke Katagami 6dMakoto Tobe 6d142July 17, 2011Akihito Hirose ōi
17BMitsunori Makino 4dTakayuki Yamasaki 7d114July 24, 2011Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d
18AAkira Shima 9dTomomi Kai W3d75July 31, 2011Chikara Akutsu 7d

Round 2

A total of 16 games were played in round 2. Play began on August 7, 2011, and ended on November 27, 2011. The 18 winners from round 1 were joined by the 14 players who had received round 1 byes.

No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1BMasayuki Toyoshima 6dAkira Watanabe Ryūō150August 7, 2011Yasumitsu Satō 9d
2AShūji Muranaka 6dHiroyuki Miura 8d102August 14, 2011Kazuki Kimura 8d
3BTetsurō Itodani 5dTadao Kitajima 6d126August 21, 2011Daisuke Katagami 6d
4BAyumu Matsuo 7dMasataka Sugimoto 7d137August 28, 2011Masayuki Toyoshima 6d
5AMamoru Hatakeyama 7dKōji Tanigawa 9d115September 4, 2011Kunio Naitō 9d
6BTatsuya Sugai 5dKeita Inoue 9d111September 11, 2011Akira Watanabe Ryūō
7AMasataka Gōda 9dKōta Kanai 5d109September 18, 2011Taku Morishita 9d
8BKōichi Fukaura 9dTakeshi Fujii 9d109October 2, 2011Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin [lower-alpha 8]
9BTakayuki Yamasaki 7dToshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin100October 9, 2011Kōji Tanigawa
10AHiroshi Kobayashi 7dKazuki Kimura 8d126October 16, 2011Takanori Hashimoto 7d
11BToshiaki Kubo 2 crownYūsuke Tōyama 5d69October 23, 2011Makoto Tobe 6d
12ATadahisa Maruyama 9dAkira Shima115October 30, 2011Masataka Gōda 9d
13ATakuya Nagase 4dAkihito Hirose 7d[lower-alpha 9]136November 6, 2011Yūsuke Tōyama 5d
14AChikara Akutsu 7dYasuaki Murayama 5d103November 13, 2011Hirotaka Nozuki 7d
15AYoshiharu Habu NHK CupMakoto Tobe 6d107November 20, 2011Manabu Senzaki 8d
16BMichio Takahashi 9dKenjirō Abe 5d86November 27, 2011Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d

Round 3

Play began on December 4, 2011, and ended on January 29, 2012. Sugai, Kitajima and Akutsu were the only preliminary tournament winners make it as far as round 3. Kubo vs. Moriuchi (round 3, game 4) was the first pairing of major titleholders in the tournament.

No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1BAyumu Matsuo 7dTadao Kitajima 6d97December 4, 2011Takahiro Toyokawa 7d
2AMasataka Gōda 9dAkihito Hirose 7d103December 11, 2011Daisuke Suzuki 8d
3ATadahisa Maruyama 9dKazuki Kimura 8d104December 18, 2011Ayumu Matsuo 7d
4BToshiaki Kubo 2 crownToshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin109December 25, 2011Kunio Yonenaga Lifetime Kisei
5BAkira Watanabe RyūōKenjirō Abe 5d63January 8, 2012Kazuki Kimura 8d
6AMamoru Hatakeyama 7dHiroyuki Miura 8d67January 15, 2012Takayuki Yamasaki 7d
7AYoshiharu Habu NHK CupChikara Akutsu 7d137January 22, 2012Taku Morishita 9d
8BKōichi Fukaura 9dTatsuya Sugai 5d148January 29, 2012Keita Inoue 9d

Quarterfinals

The eight remaining players were paired off against each other with play beginning on February 5 and ending on February 26, 2012. The last remaining preliminary tournament winner (Sugai) was joined by three major titleholders (Habu, Watanabe, and Kubo), two Class A players (Kimura and Gōda) and two Class B1 players (Hatakeyama and Matsuo). Sugai's feat was even more impressive because he had only become a professional in April 2010, and this was his first time participating in the NHK Cup tournament.

No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1BToshiaki Kubo 2 crownAyumu Matsuo 7d101February 5, 2012Akihito Hirose 7d
2AYoshiharu Habu NHK CupMasataka Gōda 9d99February 12, 2012Kōichi Fukaura 9d
3AKazuki Kimura 8dMamoru Hatakeyama 7d114February 19, 2012Michio Takahashi 9d
4BAkira Watanabe RyūōTatsuya Sugai 5d93February 26, 2012Makoto Tobe 6d

Semifinals

The two remaining players from each block with paired against each other to determine the respective block winners. The 1st semifinal game between Akira Watanabe Ryūō (sente) and Toshiaki Kubo 2 crown (gote) was broadcast on March 4, 2012. Watanabe won the game in 127 moves. The guest analyst was Kōji Tanigawa 9d. The 2nd semifinal game was between Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d (sente) and Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup (gote). The game was broadcast on March 11, 2012, and won by Habu in 108 moves. The guest analyst was Osamu Nakamura 9d.

Finals

After 112 preliminary tournament games and 48 main tournament games involving 172 players, Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup and Akira Watanabe Ryūō met in the final which was broadcast on March 18, 2012. Habu had won the tournament the previous three years (58th NHK Cup – 60th NHK Cup) and was riding a 19 NHK Cup game winning streak; Watanabe, on the other hand, was looking for his first NHK Cup championship to add to the major titles he had already won. A victory over Watanabe would also be Habu's tenth NHK Cup title overall, thus making him the first player to qualify for the title of "Lifetime NHK Cup Champion". The piece toss before the game resulted in Habu being sente and he won the game in 147 moves, thus becoming the 61st NHK Cup Champion、the first player to win the tournament 4 times in a row [lower-alpha 10] and the first "Lifetime NHK Cup Champion".[6] The guest analyst for the final match were Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin and the hosts were NHK announcer Taiga Sekiguchi and female professional Rieko Yauchi. A radio broadcast of the final aired on March 20, 2012. The host was NHK announcer Nobuo Murakami and the guest analysts were Kunio Yonenaga Lifetime Kisei, Kōji Tanigawa 9d and Takanori Hashimoto 8d.[7]

61st NHK Cup Final (147. Gx9c)
Gote: Akira Watanabe Ryūō
☖ pieces in hand: 銀 桂 歩(6)
987654321 
         1
  角   銀 王2
金香角      3
玉 歩 歩銀桂歩歩4
 香   歩  香5
 金歩 歩 竜桂 6
歩  金 歩   7
     銀   8
香桂       9
☗ pieces in hand: 飛 金 歩(3)
Sente: Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup

The game score and a diagram showing the final position is given below.[8]
Sente: Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup
Gote: Akira Watanabe Ryūō
Opening: Double Fortress (相矢倉)
1.P-7f, 2. P-8d, 3. S-6h, 4. P-3d, 5. P-6f, 6. S-6b, 7. P-5f, 8. P-5d, 9. S-4h, 10. P-4b, 11. G-5h, 12. G-3b, 13. G-7h, 14. K-4a, 15. K-6i, 16. G-5b, 17. S-7g, 18. S-3c, 19. B-7i, 20. B-3a, 21. P-3f, 22. P-4d, 23 G5h-6g, 24. P-7c, 25. S-3g, 26. B-6d, 27. B-6h, 28. G5b-4c, 29. K-7i, 30. K-3a, 31. K-8h, 32. K-2b, 33. S-4f, 34. S-5c, 35. N-3g, 36. P-9d, 37. P-1f, 38. P-1d, 39. P-2f, 40. B-7c, 41. R-3h, 42. S-2d, 43. L-1h, 44. P-9e, 45. P-6e, 46. P-8e, 47. N-2e, 48. S-4b, 49. P-3e, 50. Sx3e, 51. Sx3e, 52. Px3e, 53. P-1e, 54. S*3g, 55. R-3i, 56. Px1e, 57. P-6d, 58. Bx6d, 59. Lx1e, 60. Lx1e, 61. S*6e, 62. Sx2f+, 63. Sx6d, 64. Px6d, 65. Rx3e, 66. S*2d, 67. N-1c+, 68. Nx1c, 69. P*1d, 70. Sx3e, 71. Bx3e, 72. P*1b, 73. Px1c+, 74. Px1c, 75. B*7a, 76. +S-2e, 77. B3ex4d, 78. Gx4d, 79. Bx4d+, 80. S-3c, 81. +B-7a, 82. R-4b, 83. P*3d, 84. Sx3d, 85. N*4f, 86. R*3i, 87. S*4h, 88. R-3f+, 89. +Bx8a, 90. P*4e, 91. Nx3d, 92. +Rx3d, 93. +Bx9a, 94. P-8f, 95. +Bx6d, 96. Px8g+, 97. Kx8g, 98. P*8e, 99. K-8h, 100. N*8f, 101. G7h-6h, 102. P-9f, 103. P*3e, 104. +Sx3e, 105. P*3f, 106. +Sx3f, 107. L*3i, 108. N*9e, 109. N*2f 110. +R-3e 111. Sx8f, 112. R-6b, 113. Sx9e, 114. Rx6d, 115. Lx3f, 116. +Rx3f, 117. S*4d, 118. P-1d, 119. N*3d, 120. K-1b, 121. S*3c, 122. L*8f, 123. Sx8f, 124. Px8f, 125. N*2d, 126. Px2d, 127. Sx3b, 128. P-8g+, 129. Kx8g, 130. L*8a, 131. P*8d, 132. Lx8d, 133. P*8e, 134. Rx6g+, 135. Gx6g, 136. Lx8e+, 137. Kx9f, 138. G*8f, 139. K-9e, 140. B*7c, 141. G*8d, 142. P*9d, 143. Kx9d, 144. B*7b, 145. L*8c, 146. P*9c, 147. Gx9c gote resigns (diagram)

The final tournament bracket is shown below.

61st NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament bracket (final)

Other
  • Sente won 29 (almost 60%) of the 49 games.
  • The average number of moves per main tournament game was 106. The most moves played in a single game was 157 (Rd. 1, Sugimoto 7d vs. Ina 6d) while the fewest moves played was 63 (Rd. 3, Watanabe Ryūō vs. Abe 5d).
  • There were no replays resulting from repetition (千日手, sennichite) or impasse (持将棋, jishōgi), and there were no disqualifications due to illegal moves[9] or time forfeits.
  • The age breakdown (age at start of the tournament) for the players who qualified was as follows: 10–19 years old, 2 players; 20–29 years old, 15 players; 30–39 years old, 14 players; 40–49 years old, 17 players; 50–59 years old, 1 player; 60 years old or older, 1 player. The oldest player was Keiji Mori 9d (64 years old) and the youngest players were Tatsuya Sugai 4d and Takuya Nagase 4d (both 18 years old).[lower-alpha 11]
  • For only the second time in the history of a tournament, a "student" was paired against their "teacher" when Tatsuya Sugai played Keita Inoue in Rd. 2. [lower-alpha 12] The only other time this had occurred to date was when Daisuke Nakagawa beat his teacher Kunio Yonenaga in quarterfinals of the 45th NHK Cup (1995).

See also

Notes
  1. "W3d" stands for "Women's professional 3 dan".
  2. Kubo held both the Kiō and ōshō when the tournament bracket was finalized.
  3. Players overlapping multiple categories are only listed once.
  4. The other major titleholders at the end of the previous year were Habu (Meijin, ōza, and Kisei), and Watanabe (Ryūō)
  5. Based upon JSA 2010 calendar year rankings in the following three categories: games played, games won, and winning percentage.[3]
  6. Unlike in chess where moves are numbered in pairs, moves in shogi numbered individually so a game that lasts 51 moves means that sente made 26 moves and gote made 25 moves.
  7. Gote (後手) refers to "the player who moves second".
  8. Moriuchi defeated the reigning Meijin Habu four games to three to become the 69th Meijin in June 2011.[4]
  9. Hirose lost his ōi title to Habu four games to three in September 2011.[5]
  10. No other player has won the tournament more than twice in a row and only two other players besides Habu (Yasumitsu Satō and Yasuharu Oyama) have defended their title and repeated as champion
  11. Nagase was born in September 1992, and Sugai was born in April 1992
  12. A young amateur player aspiring to become a professional typically asks a more experienced professional to formally become their sponsor (i.e., teacher/mentor) and help them through the process. In some cases, the "student" may even decide to go live with their "teacher" and family.

References
  1. "Dai Rokujūikkai NHK Terebi Shōgi Tōnamento" 第61回NHKテレビ将棋トーナメント [61st NHK TV Shogi Tournament] (in Japanese). NHK. Archived from the original on April 2, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  2. "Dai Rokujūikkai NHKhaisen Yosen" 第61回NHK杯戦予選 [61st NHK Cup preliminaries] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  3. "Nisenjūnendo Kishi Seiseki･Kiroku" 2010年度棋士成績・記録 [2010 Shogi Year Player Rankings and Records] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  4. Dai Rokujūkyūki Shōgi Meijinsen Nanabanshōbu Zenkiroku—Moriuchi, Meijin'i Dakkan 第69期 将棋名人戦七番勝負全記録―森内, 名人位奪還 [Complete Record of the 69th Shogi Meijin Seven Game Match—Moriuchi Wins Back the Meijin Title] (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Asahi Shimbun. August 2011. ISBN 978-4-0210-0198-7.
  5. "Dai Gojūniki Ōisen - Habu ga Gyakuten de Dakkan" 第52期王位戦—羽生が逆転で奪還 [52nd Ōi Title Match — Habu Comes From Behind To Reclaim Title]. Hokkaido Shimbun (in Japanese). Sapporo, Japan: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  6. "羽生善治二冠, 名誉NHK杯に! (Habu Yoshiharu Nikan, Meiyo NHKhai ni!)" [Habu 2 Crown, Lifetime NHK Cup Champion!] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Asscoation. March 19, 2012. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  7. "Rajio NHKhai Shōgi Tōnamento Dai Rokujūikkai Kesshōsen" ラジオNHK杯将棋トーナメント第61回決勝戦 [Radio NHK Cup Shogi Tournament 61st Final] (in Japanese). NHK. March 20, 2012. Archived from the original on September 14, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  8. "NHK hai Terebi Shōgi Tōnamento Kifu, Nisenjūninen Sangatsu Jūhachinichi Dai Rokujūiikai NHKhai Kesshō" NHK杯テレビ将棋トーナメント棋譜, 2012年3月18日第61回NHK杯決勝 [NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament game score, 61st NHK Cup Final (March 18, 2012)] (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  9. "5. Hansoku ni tsuite" 5.反則について [5. Rules violations] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
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