Kiō

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title: "Kiō" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["kiō", "shogi-tournaments"] description: "Major tournament in professional shogi" topic_path: "general/kio" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiō" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Major tournament in professional shogi ::

Kiō 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 board and king).

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. ::data[format=table]

No.	Year	Winner	Score	Opponent
1	1975	Nobuyuki Ōuchi		(League)
2	1976	Hifumi Katō	3-0	Nobuyuki Ōuchi
3	1977	Hifumi Katō (2)	3-0	Makoto Nakahara
4	1978	Kunio Yonenaga	3-2	Hifumi Katō
5	1979	Makoto Nakahara	3-1	Kunio Yonenaga
6	1980	Kunio Yonenaga (2)	3-1	Makoto Nakahara
7	1981	Kunio Yonenaga (3)	3-2	Hidemitsu Moriyasu
8	1982	Kunio Yonenaga (4)	3-0	Yasuharu Oyama
9	1983	Kunio Yonenaga (5)	3-1	Hidemitsu Moriyasu
10	1984	Kiyozumi Kiriyama	3-1	Kunio Yonenaga
11	1985	Kōji Tanigawa	3-0	Kiyozumi Kiriyama
12	1986	Michio Takahashi	3-1	Kōji Tanigawa
13	1987	Koji Tanigawa (2)	3-2	Michio Takahashi
14	1988	Yoshikazu Minami	3-2	Kōji Tanigawa
15	1989	Yoshikazu Minami (2)	3-0	Yasuharu Oyama
16	1990	Yoshiharu Habu	3-1	Yoshikazu Minami
17	1991	Yoshiharu Habu (2)	3-1	Yoshikazu Minami
18	1992	Yoshiharu Habu (3)	3-2	Kōji Tanigawa
19	1993	Yoshiharu Habu (4)	3-0	Yoshikazu Minami
20	1994	Yoshiharu Habu (5)	3-0	Taku Morishita
21	1995	Yoshiharu Habu (6)	3-0	Michio Takahashi
22	1996	Yoshiharu Habu (7)	3-0	Taku Morishita
23	1997	Yoshiharu Habu (8)	3-1	Masataka Gōda
24	1998	Yoshiharu Habu (9)	3-0	Yasumitsu Sato
25	1999	Yoshiharu Habu (10)	3-1	Toshiyuki Moriuchi
26	2000	Yoshiharu Habu (11)	3-1	Toshiaki Kubo
27	2001	Yoshiharu Habu (12)	3-1	Yasumitsu Sato
28	2002	Tadahisa Maruyama	3-2	Yoshiharu Habu
29	2003	Kōji Tanigawa (3)	3-1	Tadahisa Maruyama
30	2004	Yoshiharu Habu (13)	3-0	Kōji Tanigawa
31	2005	Toshiyuki Moriuchi	3-1	Yoshiharu Habu
32	2006	Yasumitsu Sato	3-2	Toshiyuki Moriuchi
33	2007	Yasumitsu Sato (2)	3-2	Yoshiharu Habu
34	2008	Toshiaki Kubo	3-2	Yasumitsu Sato
35	2009	Toshiaki Kubo (2)	3-2	Yasumitsu Sato
36	2010	Toshiaki Kubo (3)	3-1	Akira Watanabe
37	2011	Masataka Gōda	3-1	Toshiaki Kubo
38	2012	Akira Watanabe	3-1	Masataka Gōda
39	2013	Akira Watanabe (2)	3-0	Hiroyuki Miura
40	2014	Akira Watanabe (3)	3-0	Yoshiharu Habu
41	2015	Akira Watanabe (4)	3-1	Amahiko Satō
last=Yamamura	first=Hideki	url=http://mainichi.jp/articles/20170328/k00/00m/040/049000c	script-title=ja:渡辺5連覇, 永世棋王に 竜王と2冠維持	title=Watanabe Gorenpa, Eisei Kiō ni Ryuō to Nikan Iji
43	2017	Akira Watanabe (6)	3-2	Takuya Nagase
44	2018	Akira Watanabe (7)	3-1	Akihito Hirose
45	2019	Akira Watanabe (8)	3-1	Kei Honda
46	2020	Akira Watanabe (9)	3-1	Tetsurō Itodani
47	2021	Akira Watanabe (10)	3-1	Takuya Nagase
48	2022	Sōta Fujii	3-1	Akira Watanabe
49	2023	Sōta Fujii (2)	3-0	Takumi Itō
50	2024	Sōta Fujii (3)	30	Yasuhiro Masuda
::

Records

• Most titles overall: Yoshiharu Habu, 13
• Most consecutive titles: Yoshiharu Habu, 12 in a row (1991-2002)

Notes

References

References

1. "Kiōsen Gaiyō". [[Japan Shogi Association]].
2. "Yoku Aru Goshitsumon: Eisei Shōgō no Kitei wa Dō Natteiru no Deshōka.". Japan Shogi Association.
3. "Eisei Shōgō･ Meiyo Shōgō Kakutokusha Ichiran". Japan Shogi Association.
4. "Kiōsen Kako no Kekka". Japan Shogi Association.
5. (March 30, 2010). "Kubo Kiō ga Bōei, Nikan Kenji, Satō Kudan ni Sansho Nihai". Japan Press Network 47 News.
6. . (March 18, 2011). ["Kubo Kiō ga Sanrenpa, Watanabe Ryūō Kudasu, Shōgi･Dai Sanjūroku Kiōsen"](http://www.asahi.com/shougi/news/OSK201103180030.html). *[[Asahi Shimbun]]*.
7. . (March 17, 2012). ["Shōgi･Gōda Kudan ga Kiō Dasshu, Jūnenburi Taitoru"](http://www.asahi.com/shougi/news/TKY201203170392.html). *Asahi Shimbun*.
8. . (March 25, 2013). ["Watanabe ōshō ga Shijō Hachininme Sankan! Kiōi Dasshu, Sangatsu dake de Nikan"](http://www.sponichi.co.jp/society/news/2013/03/25/kiji/K20130325005471350.html). *[[Sports Nippon]]*.
9. . (16 March 2014). ["Watanabe Kiō ga Hatsubōei, Sanrenshō de Miura Kudan Kudasu: Kiōsen"](http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASG3J369QG3JUCVL009.html). *Asahi Shimbun*.
10. (March 8, 2015). "Kiōsen, Watanabe ga Sanrenshō de Sanrenpa, Habu Yonkan o Attō". [[Hokkaido Shimbun]].
11. . (March 21, 2016). ["Kiōsen, Watanabe Kiō ga Yonrenpa"](http://www.sankei.com/life/news/160321/lif1603210030-n1.html). *[[Sankei Shimbun]]*.
12. Yamamura, Hideki. (March 27, 2017). "Watanabe Gorenpa, Eisei Kiō ni Ryuō to Nikan Iji". [[Mainichi Shimbun]].
13. Yamamura, Hideki. (March 30, 2018). "Kiōsen, Watanabe ga Bōei Rokurenpa Nagase Shichidan Kudasu". Mainichi Shimbun.
14. . (March 17, 2019). ["Shōgi Kiōsen Watanabe Nikan ga Taitoru Bōei Nanarenpa"](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20190317/amp/k10011851681000.html%3Fusqp%3Dmq331AQECAEoAQ%253D%253D). *[[NHK]]*.
15. . (March 17, 2020). ["Kiōsen, Watanabe Akira Sankan ga Hachirenpa...Honda Godan Yaburi Sanshō Ippai de Bōei"](https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/igoshougi/20200317-OYT1T50301/). *[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]*.
16. Murakami, Kōji. (March 17, 2021). "Shōgi･Watanabe Akira Kiō ga Kyūrenpa Taitoru Kautoku Rekidai Tandoku Yon'i". Asahi Shimbun.
17. Murakami, Kōji. (March 20, 2022). "Shōgi･Watanabe Akira Kiō defeats challenger Takuya Nagase Ōza to win Kiō for the 10th consecutive time". Asahi Shimbun.
18. . (March 19, 2023). ["Fujii becomes second player in shogi history to hold six major titles"](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/19/national/fujii-wins-kio-title/). *Japan Times*.
19. . (March 17, 2024). ["Fujii Hachikan ga Itō Nanadan ni Shōri ｢Kiōsen｣ Nirenpa Shōritsu wa Rekidai Nii ni"](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240317/k10014393501000.html). *[[NHK News Web]]*.
20. . (February 4, 2024). ["Shōgi ｢Kiōsen｣ Dai Ikkyoku ｢Jishōgi｣"](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240204/k10014347231000.html). *NHK News Web*.
21. . (March 2, 2025). ["Shōgi ｢Kiōsen｣ Fujii Sōta Nanakan Sanrenshō de Goban Shōbu Seishi Bōei Sanrenpa"](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250302/k10014737601000.html). *NHK News Web*.

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