The Shogi Champions

Les champions du Shogi

It is not surprising to learn that the best Shogi players are Japanese. There are professional players in Japan, rated up to the maximum of 9th dan. The most acclaimed players are awarded the historical title of Meijin, Grand Master. The competitions are annual tournaments and the most famous are called the "Seven Crowns".

The Life Meijin
The Big Seven Pro Titles
Hall of fame
Women's titles
Amateur World Championship

Caution : according to Japanese habit, family name is given first.

The Meijin was historically a lifetime title held by one person for each generation. The first has been Sokei Ohashi who founded the first school of Shogi and fixed the modern rules. In 1935, the title became annual (see below). The title of Lifetime Meijin is now officially awarded only upon retirement for the achievement of, at least, 5 annual Meijin titles. (text from Wikipedia).

The Lifetime Meijins are :

1	Sokei I Ohashi	1555-1634	11	Soin III Ito	1826-1893
2	Soko Ohashi	1576-1654	12	Ono Gohei	1831-1921
3	Sokan I Ito	1618-1694	13	Sekine Kinjiro	1868-1946
4	Sokei III Ohashi	1636-1713	14	Kimura Yoshio	1905-1986
5	Soin I Ito	1667-1723	15	Oyama Yasuharu	1923-1992
6	Soyo II Ohashi	1648-1728	16	Nakahara Makoto	1947-
7	Sokan II Ito	1706-1761	17	Tanigawa Koji	1962-
8	Sokei VI Ohashi	1744-1799	18	Moriuchi Toshiyuki	1970-
9	Soei I Ohashi	1756-1809	19	Habu Yoshiharu	1970-
10	Sokan III Ito	1768-1843

Nakahara, Tanigawa, Moriuchi and Habu will become 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Meijin respectively when they will retire.

The "Seven Crowns" are :

Ryûô (Dragon-King) : restarted in 1988 as the biggest title.
Meijin (Grand Master) : reformed to win by competition since 1937.
Kisei (Shogi Saint) : established in 1962 as a bi-annual title. Reformed as a yearly title in 1995.
Ôi (Crown) : established in 1960.
Kiô (Shogi King) : officially established in 1974. Only title to adopt the repechage rule in tournament.
Ôza (Throne) : established in 1953 but title is officially approved since 1983.
Ôsho (King) : officially established in 1950.

	Ryu-O	Meijin	Kisei	Oi	Kio	Oza	Osho
1937		Kimura
1940		Kimura
1942		Kimura
		Kimura
		Kimura
1947		Tsukada
1948		Tsukada
1949		Kimura
1950		Kimura					(Kimura)
1951		Kimura					Masuda
1952		Oyama					Oyama
1953		Oyama					Oyama
1954		Oyama					Oyama
1955		Oyama					Masuda
1956		Oyama					Masuda
1957		Masuda					Oyama
1958		Masuda					Oyama
1959		Oyama					Oyama
1960		Oyama		Oyama			Oyama
1961		Oyama		Oyama			Oyama
1962		Oyama	Oyama	Oyama			Futakami
1963		Oyama	Oyama Oyama	Oyama			Oyama
1964		Oyama	Oyama Oyama	Oyama			Oyama
1965		Oyama	Oyama Oyama	Oyama			Oyama
1966		Oyama	Futakami Oyama	Oyama			Oyama
1967		Oyama	Yamada Yamada	Oyama			Oyama
1968		Oyama	Nakahara Nakahara	Oyama			Oyama
1969		Oyama	Nakahara Naito	Oyama			Oyama
1970		Oyama	Oyama Nakahara	Oyama			Oyama
1971		Oyama	Nakahara Nakahara	Oyama			Oyama
1972		Nakahara	Ariyoshi Yonenaga	Naito			Nakahara
1973		Nakahara	Naito Oyama	Nakahara			Nakahara
1974		Nakahara	Oyama Oyama	Nakahara	(Naito)		Nakahara
1975		Nakahara	Oyama Oyama	Nakahara	Ouchi		Nakahara
1976		Nakahara	Oyama Oyama	Nakahara	Kato		Nakahara
1977		Nakahara	Oyama Nakahara	Nakahara	Kato		Nakahara
1978		Nakahara	Nakahara Nakahara	Nakahara	Yonenaga		Kato
1979		Nakahara	Nakahara Nakahara	Yonenaga	Yonenaga		Oyama
1980		Nakahara	Yonenaga Futakami	Nakahara	Yonenaga		Oyama
1981		Nakahara	Futakami Futakami	Nakahara	Yonenaga		Oyama
1982		Kato	Mori Nakahara	Naito	Yonenaga		Yonenaga
1983		Tanigawa	Moriyasu Yonenaga	Takahashi	Yonenaga	Nakahara	Yonenaga
1984		Tanigawa	Yonenaga Yonenaga	Kato	Kiriyama	Nakahara	Nakahara
1985		Nakahara	Yonenaga Yonenaga	Takahashi	Tanigawa	Nakahara	Nakamura
1986		Nakahara	Kiriyama Kiriyama	Takahashi	Takahashi	Nakahara	Nakamura
1987		Nakahara	Kiriyama Minami	Tanigawa	Tanigawa	Tsukada	Minami
1988	Shima	Tanigawa	Tanaka Nakahara	Mori	Minami	Nakahara	Minami
1989	Habu	Tanigawa	Nakahara Nakahara	Tanigawa	Minami	Nakahara	Yonenaga
1990	Tanigawa	Nakahara	Yashiki Yashiki	Tanigawa	Habu	Tanigawa	Minami
1991	Tanigawa	Nakahara	Minami Tanigawa	Tanigawa	Habu	Fukusaki	Tanigawa
1992	Habu	Nakahara	Tanigawa Tanigawa	Goda	Habu	Habu	Tanigawa
1993	Sato	Yonenaga	Habu Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu	Tanigawa
1994	Habu	Habu	Habu Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu	Tanigawa
1995	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu
1996	Tanigawa	Habu	Miura	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu
1997	Tanigawa	Tanigawa	Yashiki	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu
1998	Fujii	Sato	Goda	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu
1999	Fujii	Sato	Tanigawa	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu
2000	Fujii	Maruyama	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu
2001	Habu	Maruyama	Goda	Habu	Habu	Habu	Sato
2002	Habu	Moriuchi	Sato	Tanigawa	Maruyama	Habu	Habu
2003	Moriuchi	Habu	Sato	Tanigawa	Tanigawa	Habu	Moriuchi
2004	Watanabe	Moriuchi	Sato	Habu	Habu	Habu	Habu
2005	Watanabe	Moriuchi	Sato	Habu	Moriuchi	Habu	Habu
2006	Watanabe	Moriuchi	Sato	Habu	Sato	Habu	Habu
2007	Watanabe	Moriuchi	Sato	Fukaura	Sato	Habu	Habu
2008	Watanabe	Habu	Habu	Fukaura	Kubo	Habu	Habu
2009	Watanabe	Habu	Habu	Fukaura	Kubo	Habu	Kubo
2010	Watanabe	Habu	Habu	Hirose	Kubo	Habu	Kubo
2011	Watanabe	Moriuchi	Habu	Habu	Goda	Watanabe	Sato
2012	Watanabe	Moriuchi	Habu	Habu	Watanabe	Habu	Watanabe
2013	Moriuchi	Moriuchi	Habu	Habu	Watanabe	Habu	Watanabe
2014	Nov. 2014	Habu	Habu	Habu	March 2015	Habu	March 2015
		June 2015	July 2015	Aug. 2015		Oct. 2015
	Ryû-Ô	Meijin	Kisei	Ôi	Kiô	Ôza	Ôshô

Remark : the final game of Kio and Osho of the year are played at the beginning of the following year. For example, Habu completed the seven 1995 Crowns, but he actually hold them after winning the 45th Osho match in 1996.

More information on Reijer Grimbergen's Shogi page.

Hall of Fame :

Oyama Yasuharu (1923-1992): 15th Lifetime Meijin, Honored Permanent title holder of Kisei, Osho and 10-dan. Nick-named "Ironman", he won the Meijin title 18 times.	Nakahara Makoto: born 1947, 9th dan in 1973, will be the 16th Lifetime Meijin. Youngest Meijin ever (1972, age:24). More than 1000 career victories.	Tanigawa Koji: born 1962, 9th dan in 1984, will be the 17th Lifetime Meijin. More than 800 career victories.
Habu Yoshiharu: born 1970, 9th dan in 1994, yougest title holder ever (Ryuo 1989, age: 19), first ever 6 crowns holder (1994), first ever 7 crown holder (1995). Currently, considered as the best Shogi player of the World.
Maruyama Tadahisa: born 1970, 9th dan in June 2000.	Sato Yasumistu: born 1969, 9th dan in 1998.	Fujii Takeshi: born 1970, 9th dan since 2000.
Moriuchi Toshiyuki: born 1970, 9th dan in May 2002 and 2002 Meijin.	Goda Masataka: born 1971, 9th dan since 2001.	Watanabe Akira: born 1984, Ryu-O since 2004, jumped from 6th to 9th dan in only 2 months in 2005!
Kubo Toshiaki : born 1975, 9th dan since 2010.

Women also have their prestigious titles:

Joryu Meijin
Joryu Osho
Joryu Oi
Kurashiki Toka

Shimuzu Ichiyo is the best woman player of Japan (and the rest of the world as well !)

	Meijin	Osho	Oi	Kurashiki Toka
1996			Shimuzu Ichiyo
1997	Shimuzu Ichiyo	Haruko Saita	Yauchi Rieko	Shimuzu Ichiyo
1998	Shimuzu Ichiyo	Shimuzu Ichiyo	Shimuzu Ichiyo	Shimuzu Ichiyo
1999	Shimuzu Ichiyo	Sachio Ishibashi	Shimuzu Ichiyo	Shimuzu Ichiyo
2000	Nakai Hiroe	Shimuzu Ichiyo	Shimuzu Ichiyo
2001	Saita Haruko

International Amateur Competitions

Some attempts have been made to settle competitions outside Japan. Of course, they are amateur events. Three competitions have been organized with competitors coming from all over the world.

First International Shogi Tournament : held in Tokyo, June 1999 with 32 players representing 27 countries. Winner was Takahiro Hayashi (Japan, 6th dan) beating Larry Kaufman (USA).

Shogi World Championship : held in New York, May 2000 with 20 players representing 263 players who disputed the qualifying tournaments in 20 countries. The so-called title is quarreled by some players. Winner was Katsumasa Egoshi (Brazil) beating Chiaki Ito (Thailand).

MSO Worldwide Championship : organized as a part of the Mind Sport Olympiad 2000 Shogi Festival in London, August 2000 with 82 players from 14 countries. Winner was Ayumu Sato (Japan) beating Chiaki Ito (Thailand). Also held in the same festival was the 16th European Championship won by Tony Hosking (England).

European Shogi Championship is organized since 1990. Worldwide Open Shogi Championship is organized in parallel since 2000.

	Location	ESC	WOSC
1990	Frankfurt, D	David Murphy (UK)
1991	Ramsgate, UK	Stephen Lamb (UK)
1992	London, UK	Reijer Grimbergen (NL)
1993	The Hague, NL	Arend Van Oosten (NL)
1994	Brussels, B	Takahara Shuji (J)
1995	Brussels, B	Reijer Grimbergen (NL)
1996	Brussels, B	Arend Van Oosten (NL)
1997	Brussels, B	Miyamoto Toyokazu (J)
1998	Leiden, NL	Boris Mirnik (D)
1999	Leiden, NL	Arend Van Oosten (NL)
2000	London, UK	Tony Hosking (UK)	Sato Ayumu (J)
2001	London, UK	Frédéric Pottier (F)	Ishii Yutaka (J)
2002	Brussels, B	Boris Mirnik (D)	Boris Mirnik (D)
2003	Oeckeroe, SW	Uemura Yoshiyuki (J)	Uemura Yoshiyuki (J)
2004	Pullach, D	Kikuta Yuji (J)	Sera Tsukasa (J)
2005	Pardubice, CZ	Artem Kolomiyets (Ukr)	Sera Tsukasa (J)
2006	Colmar, F	Arend Van Oosten (NL)	Kikuta Yuji (J)
2007	Pardubice, CZ	Victor Zapara (Rus)	Boris Mirnik (D)
2008	Pardubice, CZ	Artem Kolomiyets (Ukr)	Artem Kolomiyets (Ukr)
2009	Stockholm, SW	Jean Fortin (F)	Karl Wartlick (D)
2010	Debrecen, HUN	Jean Fortin (F)	Takahashi Kimio (J)
2011	Ludwigshafen, D	Jean Fortin (F)	Kawato Makoto (J)
2012	Cracow, PL	Thomas Leiter (D)	Utsunomiya Yasuhiko (J)

Habu discovering L'Odyssée des Jeux d'échecs (Jean-Louis Cazaux), presented by Alexis Beuve (Praxeo edition) and
Fabien Osmont (President of French Shogi Federation, FFS), Rueil Malmaison, 2011, Oct. 28
(Photo Praxeo)

11/01/2014