The 61st NHK Cup, or as it is officially known the 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 during the NHK-E broadcasts was female professional Rieko Yauchi.
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.
The women's 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.
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 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. Sente was determined prior to each game by piece toss.
The 50 players listed below qualified for the main tournament.
No. Player Rank/Title A1 Tadahisa Maruyama 9d A2 Tomomi KaiF3d A3 Akira Shima9d A4 Takahiro Toyokawa7d A5 Hiroshi Kobayashi7d A6 Kazuki Kimura8d A7 Kōji Tanigawa9d A8Mamoru Hatakeyama7d A9 9d A10 Hiroki Nakata8d A11 Shūji Muranaka 6d A12 Hiroyuki Miura8d A13 Masataka Gōda9d A14 Kōta Kanai5d A15 Osamu Nakamura9d A16 Yasumitsu Satō9d A17 Takuya Nagase4d A18 Akihito HiroseŌi A19 Chikara Akutsu7d A20 Yoshiyuki Kubota6d A21 Kōhei Funae4d A22 Yasuaki Murayama5d A23 Daisuke Katagami6d A24 Makoto Tobe6d A25 Yoshiharu HabuNHK CupNo. Player Rank/Title B1 Akira Watanabe Ryūō B2 Amahiko Satō6d B3 Masayuki Toyoshima6d B4 Kōzō Arimori7d B5Kenjirō Abe5d B6 Michio Takahashi9d B7 Takeshi Fujii9d B8 Akio Ishikawa7d B9 Kōichi Fukaura9d B10 Hisashi Namekata 9d B11 Tatsuya Sugai4d B12 Keita Inoue9d B13 Toshiaki Kubo2 crown B14 Yūsuke Tōyama5d B15 Daisuke Suzuki8d B16 Takayuki Yamasaki7d B17 Mitsunori Makino4d B18 Toshiyuki Moriuchi9d B19 Masataka Sugimoto7d B20 Yūsuke Ina6d B21 Taichi Nakamura5d B22 Ayumu Matsuo7d B23 Nobuyuki Yashiki9d B24 Tadao Kitajima6d B25 Tetsurō 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: 60th NHK Cup (four players): Habu (champion), Itodani (runner-up), Maruyama (semifinalist) and Watanabe (semifinalist). Seven major titleholders (two players): Hirose (Ōi) and Kubo (Ōshō and Kiō) Class A (seven players): Miura, Takahashi, Moriuchi, Kimura, Tanigawa, Gōda, Fujii Class B1 (thirteen players): Inoue, Y. Satō, Fukaura, Namekata, Matsuo, Yamasaki, Yashiki, Suzuki, Toyokawa, Sugimoto, Hatakeyama, Nakamura, and Nakata Other tournament winners (one player): Abe (Shinjin-Ō) Female professional (one player): Kai Others with outstanding records (four players): Kubota (Class B2), Tobe (Class B2), Murayama (Class C1), and Toyoshima (Class C1) 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.
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. "No. of moves" refers to the total number of moves played in the game.
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. Block Sente Gote No. of moves Date Guest Analyst 1BTaichi Nakamura 5dAyumu Matsu 7d 108 April 3, 2011 Manabu Senzaki 8d2 B Yūsuke Tōyama 5d Daisuke Suzuki 8d85 April 10, 2011 Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d3 A Osamu Nakamura 9d Kōta Kanai 5d 126 April 17, 2011 Takanori Hashimoto 7d4 B Masataka Sugimoto 7d Yūsuke Ina 6d 157 April 24, 2011 Kenji Kobayashi 9d5 A Kōhei Funae 4d Yasuaki Murayama 5d 80 May 1, 2011 Keita Inoue 9d6 B Amahiko Satō 6d Masayuki Toyoshima 6d 102 May 8, 2011 Eiji Iijima 7d7 A Hiroki Nakata 8d Shūji Muranaka 6d 110 May 15, 2011 Akira Shima 9d8 A Chikara Akutsu 7d Yoshiyuki Kubota 6d97 May 22, 2011 Ayumu Matsuo 7d9 B Tadao Kitajima 6d Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d115 May 29, 2011 Daisuke Nakagawa 8d10A Takuya Nagase 5d Yasumitsu Satō 9d 131 June 5, 2011 Daisuke Suzuki 8d 11B Kenjirō Abe 5d Kōzō Arimori 7d 75 June 12, 2011 Takeshi Fujii 9d12A Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d Keiji Mori 9d 153 June 19, 2011 Yoshikazu Minami 9d 13B Kōichi Fukaura 9d Akio Ishikawa 6d 130June 26, 2011 Osamu Nakamura 9d 14B Hisashi Namekata 8d Tatsuya Sugai 4d 120 July 3, 2011 Toshiaki Kubo 2 crown 15ATakahiro Toyokawa 7dHiroshi Kobayashi 7d96 July 10, 2011 Takashi Abe 8d16A Daisuke Katagami 6d Makoto Tobe 6d 142 July 17, 2011 Akihito Hirose ōi17BMitsunori Makino 4d Takayuki Yamasaki 7d 114 July 24, 2011 Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d 18AAkira Shima 9d Tomomi Kai W3d 75July 31, 2011 Chikara 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. Block Sente Gote No. of moves Date Guest Analyst 1BMasayuki Toyoshima 6d Akira Watanabe Ryūō150 August 7, 2011 Yasumitsu Satō 9d2 AShūji Muranaka 6d Hiroyuki Miura 8d102 August 14, 2011 Kazuki Kimura 8d3 B Tetsurō Itodani 5d Tadao Kitajima 6d126 August 21, 2011 Daisuke Katagami 6d4 BAyumu Matsuo 7d Masataka Sugimoto 7d 137 August 28, 2011 Masayuki Toyoshima 6d5 A Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d Kōji Tanigawa 9d 115 September 4, 2011 Kunio Naitō 9d6 B Tatsuya Sugai 5d Keita Inoue 9d 111 September 11, 2011 Akira Watanabe Ryūō7 A Masataka Gōda 9d Kōta Kanai 5d 109 September 18, 2011 Taku Morishita 9d8 BKōichi Fukaura 9d Takeshi Fujii 9d109 October 2, 2011 Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin 9 BTakayuki Yamasaki 7d Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin 100 October 9, 2011 Kōji Tanigawa10A Hiroshi Kobayashi 7d Kazuki Kimura 8d126 October 16, 2011 Takanori Hashimoto 7d 11B Toshiaki Kubo 2 crown Yūsuke Tōyama 5d 69 October 23, 2011 Makoto Tobe 6d12A Tadahisa Maruyama 9d Akira Shima115 October 30, 2011 Masataka Gōda 9d 13ATakuya Nagase 4d Akihito Hirose 7d 136November 6, 2011 Yūsuke Tōyama 5d 14A Chikara Akutsu 7d Yasuaki Murayama 5d 103 November 13, 2011 Hirotaka Nozuki 7d 15AYoshiharu Habu NHK CupMakoto Tobe 6d 107 November 20, 2011 Manabu Senzaki 8d16BMichio Takahashi 9d Kenjirō Abe 5d86 November 27, 2011 Nobuyuki 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. Block Sente Gote No. of moves Date Guest Analyst 1BAyumu Matsuo 7d Tadao Kitajima 6d97 December 4, 2011 Takahiro Toyokawa 7d2 A Masataka Gōda 9d Akihito Hirose 7d103 December 11, 2011 Daisuke Suzuki 8d3 ATadahisa Maruyama 9d Kazuki Kimura 8d 104 December 18, 2011 Ayumu Matsuo 7d4 BToshiaki Kubo 2 crown Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin109 December 25, 2011 Kunio Yonenaga Lifetime Kisei5 B Akira Watanabe Ryūō Kenjirō Abe 5d63 January 8, 2012 Kazuki Kimura 8d6 A Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d Hiroyuki Miura 8d 67 January 15, 2012 Takayuki Yamasaki 7d7 A Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup Chikara Akutsu 7d 137 January 22, 2012 Taku Morishita 9d8 B Kōichi Fukaura 9d Tatsuya Sugai 5d148 January 29, 2012 Keita 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. Block Sente Gote No. of moves Date Guest Analyst 1BToshiaki Kubo 2 crown Ayumu Matsuo 7d101 February 5, 2012 Akihito Hirose 7d2 A Yoshiharu Habu NHK CupMasataka Gōda 9d99 February 12, 2012 Kōichi Fukaura 9d3 A Kazuki Kimura 8d Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d 114 February 19, 2012 Michio Takahashi 9d4 B Akira Watanabe Ryūō Tatsuya Sugai 5d 93 February 26, 2012 Makoto 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 Cup60th 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 and the first "Lifetime NHK Cup Champion". The guest analyst for the final match were Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin and the hosts were NHK announcer 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.
The game score and a diagram showing the final position is given below. Sente: Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup Gote: Akira Watanabe Ryūō Opening: Double Fortress (相矢倉)