62nd NHK Cup (shogi)

The 62nd NHK Cup, or as it is officially known the 62nd NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament (第62回NHK杯テレビ将棋トーナメント, dairokujūnikai 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 8, 2012 and ended on March 17, 2013. The 50-player single elimination tournament was won by Akira Watanabe. All of the tournament games were shown 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 127 professional shogi players competed in 18 preliminary tournaments to qualify for the main tournament. These tournaments were non-televised one-day tournaments held at the Tokyo Shogi Kaikan and the Kansai Shogi Kaikan. 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 single-game playoff between Hatsumi Ueda and Tomomi Kai, which was won by Kai.

Below are the bracket from two of the preliminary tournaments.

7-player preliminary tournament won by Atsushi Miyata 6d
8-player preliminary tournament won by Akira Inaba 5d

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.[3] Sente was determined prior to each game by piece toss.

The 50 players listed below qualified for the main tournament.

No.PlayerRank/Title
A1Yoshiharu HabuNHK Cup
A2Atsushi Miyata6d
A3Takanori Hashimoto8d
A4Kensuke Kitahama7d
A5Takayuki Yamasaki7d
A6Shōji Segawa4d
A7Hiroki Nakata8d
A8Toshiyuki MoriuchiMeijin
A9Chikara Akutsu7d
A10Shingo Hirafuji7d
A11Osamu Nakamura9d
A12Kenjirō Abe5d
A13Takeshi Fujii9d
A14Hiroyuki Miura8d
A15Tatsuya Sugai5d
A16Masataka Sugimoto7d
A17Hiroshi Kamiya7d
A18Takuya Nagase4d
A19Kazuki Kimura8d
A20Masataka GōdaKiō
A21Kōru Abe4d
A22Mitsunori Makino4d
A23Yoshikazu Minami9d
A24Hisashi Namekata8d
A25Toshiaki Kubo9d
No.PlayerRank/Title
B1Akira WatanabeRyūō
B2Keita Kadokura4d
B3Kōichi Fukaura9d
B4Hiroshi Kobayashi7d
B5Taichi Nakamura5d
B6Toshiyuki Nakao5d
B7Ayumu Matsuo7d
B8Tadahisa Maruyama9d
B9Tadashi Ōishi4d
B10Akira Inaba5d
B11Amahiko Satō6d
B12Kazutoshi Satō5d
B13Yasumitsu Satōōshō
B14Kōji Tanigawa9d
B15Sakio Chiba6d
B16Daisuke Suzuki8d
B17Akira Shima9d
B18Keita Inoue9d
B19Michio Takahashi9d
B20Nobuyuki Yashiki9d
B21Tomomi KaiW4d[lower-alpha 1]
B22Hirotaka Nozuki7d
B23Shin'ya Satō6d
B24Masayuki Toyoshima6d
B25Mamoru Hatakeyama7d

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 (段級, dankyū) 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 2]
  1. 61st NHK Cup (four players): Habu (champion), Watanabe (runner-up), Kubo (semifinalist) and Hatakeyama (semifinalist).
  2. Seven major titleholders (two players): Moriuchi (Meijin) and Gōda (Kiō)[lower-alpha 3]
  3. Class A (six players): Y. Satō, Miura, Tanigawa, Yashiki, Takahashi, and Maruyama
  4. Class B1 (twelve players): Kimura, Fujii, Fukaura, Matsuo, Namekata, Yamasaki, Suzuki, Nakata, Inoue, Nakamura, Hashimoto and Akutsu
  5. Other tournament winners (two players): A. Satō (Shinjin-Ō) and Sugai (Daiwa Cup)
  6. Women's professional (one player): Kai Women's 4 dan (Women's ōi)
  7. Others with outstanding records (five players): Toyoshima (Class C1), Nakamura (Class C2), Ōishi (Class C2), Nagase (Class C2) and Makino (Class C2) [lower-alpha 4]
Among these 32 seeds, the following 14 were given byes in round 1 and began play in round 2: Habu, Watanabe, Kubo, Hatakeyama, Moriuchi, Gōda, Y. Satō, Miura, Tanigawa, Yashiki, Takahashi, Maruyama, Kimura and Fujii.
  • The remaining players qualified by winning preliminary tournaments.

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

62nd 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 5]

Round 1

A total of 18 games were played in round 1. Play began on April 8, 2012 and ended on August 12, 2012. The 18 preliminary tournament winners were paired against 18 seeded players.

No.BlockSenteGote[lower-alpha 6]No. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1BTadashi Ōishi 4dAkira Inaba 5d96April 8, 2012Takayuki Yamasaki 7d
2AKōru Abe 4dMitsunori Makino 4d167April 15, 2012Osamu Nakamura 9d
3BShinya Satō 6dMasayuki Toyoshima 7d106April 22, 2012Amahiko Satō 7d
4BHiroshi Kobayashi 7dTaichi Nakamura 6d 80April 29, 2012Eiji Iijima 7d
5BSakio Chiba 6dDaisuke Suzuki 8d184May 6, 2012Tadao Kitajima 6d
6AYoshikazu Minami 9dHisashi Namekata 8d112May 13, 2012Bungo Fukusaki 9d
7ATakuya Nagase 4dHiroshi Kamiya 7d67May 20, 2012Akira Shima 9d
8AHiroki Nakata 8dShōji Seigawa 4d103May 27, 2012Takahiro Toyokawa 7d
9AOsamu Nakamura 9dKenjirō Abe 5d106June 3, 2012Hirouki Miura 8d
10BAyumu Matsuo 7dToshiyuki Nakao 5d129June 10, 2012Teruichi Aono 9d
11BKōichi Fukaura 9dKeita Kadokura 4d85June 17, 2012Kazuo Ishida 9d
12BAmahiko Satō 7dKazutoshi Satō 5d131June 24, 2012Makoto Tobe 6d
13BKeita Inoue 9dAkira Shima 9d86July 1, 2012Yoshikazu Minami 9d
14BTomomi Kai W-4dHirotaka Notsuki 7d86July 8, 2012Yūsuke Tōyama 5d
15AMasataka Sugimoto 7dTatsuya Sugai 5d115July 15, 2012Takashi Abe 8d
16ATakanori Hashimoto 8dAtsushi Miyata 6d133July 22, 2012Akira Watanabe Ryūō
17AShingo Hirafuji 7dChikara Akutsu 7d112July 29, 2012Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d
18AKensuke Kitahama 7dTakayuki Yamasaki 7d86August 5, 2012Masayuki Toyoshima 7d

Round 2

A total of 16 games were played in round 2. Play began on August 12, 2012 and ended on November 25, 2012. The 18 winners from round 1 were joined by the 14 players who had received round 1 byes.

No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1AKenjirō Abe 5dTakeshi Fujii 9d94August 12, 2012Kazuyoshi Nishimura 9d
2BAkira Watanabe RyūōKōichi Fukaura 9d87August 19, 2012Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d
3BDaisuke Suzuki 8dKōji Tanigawa 9d89August 26, 2012Masataka Sugimoto 7d
4AHisashi Namekata 8dToshiaki Kubo 9d131September 2, 2012Masahiko Urano 7d
5AKōru Abe 4dMasataka Gōda Kiō94September 9, 2012Yasumitsu Satō ōshō
6BMasayuki Toyoshima 7dMamoru Hatakeyama 7d130September 16, 2012Akira Inaba 6d
7BTaichi Nakamura 6d Ayumu Matsuo 7d117September 23, 2012Kazuki Kimura 8d
8BNobuyuki Yashiki 9dHirotaka Nozuki 7d87September 30, 2012Makoto Chūza 7d
9AKazuki Kimura 8dTakuya Nagase 5d87October 7, 2012Akihito Hirose 7d
10BAmahiko Satō 7dYasumitsu Satō ōshō115October 14, 2012Manabu Senzaki 8d
11BMichio Takahashi 9dAkira Shima 9d95October 21, 2012Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin
12ATakanori Hashimoto 8dYoshiharu Habu NHK Cup134October 28, 2012Chikara Akutsu 7d
13BAkira Inaba 6dTadahisa Maruyama 9d179November 4, 2012Keita Inoue 9d
14AHiroyuki Miura 8dMasataka Sugimoto 7d157November 11, 2012Daisuke Suzuki 8d
15ATakayuki Yamasaki 7dHiroki Nakata 8d123November 18, 2012Michio Takahashi 9d
16AChikara Akutsu 7dToshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin106November 25, 2012Yasumitsu Satō ōshō

Round 3

Play began on December 2, 2012 and ended on January 27, 2013. Out of the 18 preliminary tournament winners, only Akira Inaba 6d made it as far as round 3.

No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1AYoshiharu Habu NHK CupTakayuki Yamasaki 7d85December 2, 2012Taku Morishita 9d
2BNobuyuki Yashiki 9dMamoru Hatakeyama 7d119December 9, 2012Hiroyuki Miura 8d
3BAmahiko Satō 7dAkira Inaba 6d123December 16, 2012Taichi Nakamura 6d
4AHiroyuki Miura 8dKazuki Kimura 8d117December 23, 2012Hirotaka Nozuki 7d
5BMichio Takahashi 9dDaisuke Suzuki 8d100January 6, 2013Takeshi Fujii 9d
6BTaichi Nakamura 6dAkira Watanabe Ryūō136January 13, 2013Yasuaki Murayama 6d
7ATakeshi Fujii 9dToshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin102January 20, 2013Kōichi Fukaura 9d
8AHisashi Namekata 8dMasataka Gōda Kiō122January 27, 2013Takanori Hashimoto 8d

Quarterfinals

The eight remaining players were paired off against each other with play beginning on February 3 and ending on February 24, 2013. Four major titleholders (Watanabe, Moriuchi, Habu, and Gōda) as well as four former NHK Cup Champions (Habu, Moriuchi, Miura, and Suzuki) made it as far as the quarterfinals.

No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1AYoshiharu Habu NHK CupToshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin107February 3, 2013Akira Shima 9d
2BAkira Watanabe RyūōAmahiko Satō 7d81February 10, 2013Chikara Akutsu 7d
3BNobuyuki Yashiki 9dDaisuke Suzuki 8d142February 17, 2013Toshiaki Kubo 9d
4AHiroyuki Miura 8dMasataka Gōda Kiō100February 24, 2013Tadahisa Maruyama 9d

Semifinals

The two remaining players from each block with paired against each other to determine the respective block winners. The 1st semifinal game between Daisuke Suzuki 8d (sente) and Akira Watanabe Ryūō (gote) was broadcast on March 3, 2013. Watanabe won the game in 122 moves. The guest analyst was Taku Morishita 9d. The 2nd semifinal game was between Masataka Gōda Kiō (sente) and Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup (gote). The game was broadcast on March 10, 2013 and won by Habu in 116 moves. The guest analyst was Manabu Senzaki 8d.

Finals
62nd NHK Cup Final
(109. P-83+)
Gote: Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup
☖ pieces in hand: 歩(2)
987654321 
        香1
 飛 王歩 金歩 2
香と歩歩 金桂 歩3
歩  桂歩歩銀歩 4
   桂飛 歩  5
歩  銀角歩  歩6
 歩桂金 銀馬  7
  金      8
香 玉     香9
☗ pieces in hand: 銀 歩
Sente: Akira Watanabe Ryūō

After 109 preliminary tournament games and 48 main tournament games involving 160 players, Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup and Akira Watanabe Ryūō met in the final which was broadcast on March 17, 2013. Habu had won the tournament the previous four years and was on 24 NHK Cup game winning streak; Watanabe, on the other hand, was looking for his first NHK Cup championship and also to avoid losing to Habu in the finals for the second year in a row. [lower-alpha 7] The piece toss before the game resulted in Watanabe being sente and he won the game in 109 moves, thus becoming the 62nd NHK Cup Champion.[5] The guest analyst for the final match were Takeshi Fujii 9 dan and the hosts were NHK announcer Nobuhiro Hori and female professional Rieko Yauchi. A radio broadcast of the final aired on May 3, 2013. The host was NHK announcer Taiga Sekiguchi and the guest analysts were Akira Shima 9d, Kazuki Kimura 8d and Takanori Hashimoto 8d.[6]

The game score and a diagram showing the final position is given below.[7]
Sente: Akira Watanabe Ryūō
Gote: Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup
Opening: Fortress
1.P-76 P-34, 2. P-26 P-44, 3. P-25 B-33, 4. S-38 P-84, 5. S-78 P-85, 6. S-77 S-22, 7. P-56 B-42, 8. B-79 S-33, 9. G-78 G-32, 10. K-69 P-54, 11. P-36 G-52, 12 S-37 G52-43, 13. P-35 B-64, 14. Px34 Sx34, 15. P-46 K-41, 16. P-24 Px24, 17. Rx24 K-31, 18. R-28 P*34, 19. B-68 N-33, 20. K-79 S-62, 21. K-88 P-73, 22. P-66 P-75, 23. Px75 Bx75, 24. P*76 B-64, 25. G-58 S-73, 26. G58-67 S-34, 27. P*36 Px36, 28. Sx36 P*35, 29. S-47 N-73, 30. N-37 P-94, 31. P*24 P*22, 32. P-96 L-93, 33. B-57 R-92, 34. P-16 B-53, 35. P-65 Sx65, 36. B-84 P*72, 37. P-55 Px55, 38. P*52 K-42, 39. S-66 S-74, 40. P-51+ P-86, 41. Px86 Kx51, 42. R-58 P*87, 43. K-79 S-83, 44. B-75 Bx75, 45. Px75 B*27, 46. P*54 B-49+, 47. Rx55 P*52, 48. P-74 +B-48, 49. B*56 R-82, 50. Px73+ Px73, 51. N*65 K-62, 52. N-77 S-84, 53. P-85 +Bx37, 54. Px84 N*64, 55. P-83+, Gote resigns (diagram)

The final tournament bracket is shown below.

62nd NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament bracket (final)

Other
  • Sente won 26 (a little more than 53%) of the 49 games.
  • The average number of moves per main tournament game was 112. The most moves played in a single game was 184 (Rd. 1, Chiba 6d vs. Suzuki 8d) while the fewest moves played was 67 (Rd. 1, Nagase 4d vs. Kamiya 7d).
  • 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[8] or time forfeits.
  • The age breakdown (age at start of the tournament) for the players who qualified was as follows: 10–19 years old, 3 players; 20–29 years old, 10 players; 30–39 years old, 19 players; 40–49 years old, 16 players; 50–59 years old, 2 players. The oldest player was Michio Takahashi 9d (51 years old) and the youngest player was Kōru Abe 4d (17 years old).

See also

Notes
  1. "W4d" stands for "Women's professional 4 dan"
  2. Players overlapping multiple categories are only listed once.
  3. The other major titleholders at the end of the previous year were Habu (ōi, and Kisei), Watanabe (Ryūō and ōza), and Kubo (ōshō).
  4. Based upon JSA 2011 calendar year rankings in the following three categories: games played, games won, and winning percentage.[4]
  5. 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.
  6. Gote (後手) refers to "the player who moves second".
  7. This was the second time that Habu had faced the same player in consecutive NHK Cup finals. Habu beat Tetsurō Itodani 5d in the finals of both the 59th and 60th NHK Cup

References
  1. "Dairokujūnikai NHKhai Terebi Shōgi Tōnamento" 第62回NHKテレビ将棋トーナメント [62nd NHK TV Shogi Tournament] (in Japanese). NHK. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  2. "Dairokūjunikai NHKhai Yosen" 第62回NHK杯戦予選 [62nd NHK Cup preliminaries] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  3. "Taikyoku no Ruru" 対局のルール [Game rules] (in Japanese). NHK. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  4. "Nisenjūichinendo Kishi Seiseki･Kiroku" 2011年度棋士成績・記録 [2011 Shogi Year Player Rankings and Records] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  5. "Watanabe ga Hatsuyūshō NHK Shōgihai" 渡辺が初優勝NHK将棋杯 [Watanabe first championship, NHK Shōgi Cup]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). March 19, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  6. "Rajio NHKhai Shōgi Tōnamento Dai Rokujūnikai Kesshōsen" ラジオNHK杯将棋トーナメント第62回決勝戦 [Radio NHK Shogi Tournament 62nd Final] (in Japanese). NHK. May 3, 2013. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  7. "NHKhai Terebi Shōgi Tōnamento Kifu, Nisenjūsannen Sangatsu Jūnananichi Dai Rokujūnikai NHKha Kesshōsen" NHK杯テレビ将棋トーナメント棋譜, 2013年3月17日第62回NHK杯決勝 [NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament game score, 62nd NHK Cup Final (March 17, 2013)] (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  8. "5. Hansoku ni Tsuite" 5.反則について [Rules violations] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
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