Kisei
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| Kisei | |
| Name | Kisei |
| Started | 1976 |
| Honorary Kiseis | , Kobayashi Koichi |
| Sponsors | Yomiuri Shimbun |
| Prize Money | 42 million Yen ($385,000 USD) |
| Affiliation | Nihon Ki-in |
The Kisei (棋聖) is a Go competition. The title, meaning go sage in Japanese, was a traditional honorary appellation given to a handful of players down the centuries. The element ki can also apply to shogi, and there were also recognised kisei in the shogi world.
[edit] Biography
Kisei is a Go competition organised by the Japanese Nihon-Kiin. The competition began in 1976 by the Yomiuri newspaper and is currently the highest paying competition in Japanese professional Go. 42,000,000 Yen ($385,000) is the payoff for the winner. The only competition to give more money to the winner is the Ing Cup, which is an international competition held once every four years. The word Kisei is Japanese for Go Saint, which is why before the Kisei tournament began, the only players who were given the title "Kisei" were Dosaku and Honinbo Shusaku.
The tournament is just like the other two biggest Go titles in Japan, the Meijin and Honinbo. The holder is challenged by whoever wins the round robin league. Players can get into the round robin league by going through many preliminary tournaments. Once there is a challenger to compete against the holder, the winner is decided through a best of seven match. The games are played over two days and each player is given 8 hours of thinking time. There are also more rewards than just money from the Kisei tournament. Again, like the other biggest titles in Japan, if a player qualifies for the Kisei league, they are automatically moved up to 7 dan. If that same player wins the league, a promotion to 8 dan is given. If that same player goes on to winning the title, they are finally promoted to 9 dan, the highest rank.
[edit] Past Winners
| Year | Player |
|---|---|
| Details 1977 | Fujisawa Hideyuki |
| Details 1978 | Fujisawa Hideyuki |
| Details 1979 | Fujisawa Hideyuki |
| Details 1980 | Fujisawa Hideyuki |
| Details 1981 | Fujisawa Hideyuki |
| Details 1982 | Fujisawa Hideyuki |
| Details 1983 | Cho Chikun |
| Details 1984 | Cho Chikun |
| Details 1985 | Cho Chikun |
| Details 1986 | Kobayashi Koichi |
| Details 1987 | Kobayashi Koichi |
| Details 1988 | Kobayashi Koichi |
| Details 1989 | Kobayashi Koichi |
| Details 1990 | Kobayashi Koichi |
| Details 1991 | Kobayashi Koichi |
| Details 1992 | Kobayashi Koichi |
| Details 1993 | Kobayashi Koichi |
| Details 1994 | Cho Chikun |
| Details 1995 | Kobayashi Satoru |
| Details 1996 | Cho Chikun |
| Details 1997 | Cho Chikun |
| Details 1998 | Cho Chikun |
| Details 1999 | Cho Chikun |
| Details 2000 | O Rissei |
| Details 2001 | O Rissei |
| Details 2002 | O Rissei |
| Details 2003 | Yamashita Keigo |
| Details 2004 | Hane Naoki |
| Details 2005 | Hane Naoki |
| Details 2006 | Yamashita Keigo |
| Details 2007 | --- |
