is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi. The tournament is co-sponsored by Sports Nippon and the Mainichi Shimbun with additional support received from and the .
The word also refers to the piece called the "King" in shogi.
History
The tournament was first held in 1950 as a non-title tournament. The following year in 1951, it was elevated to major title status as the third major title along with the Meijin and Tenth Dan (later Ryūō) title tournaments.
Format
The tournament is open to all and takes place in four stages. The first and second preliminary rounds consist of multiple single-elimination tournaments in which the first round winners advance to compete against each other in the second round. The three winners of the second round tournaments then advance to a round-robin league called the "" along with four seeded players. The winner of the challenger league then advances to a best-of-seven championship match against the reigning Ōshō title holder. If two players or more finish tied for first in the challenger league, a single-game playoff between the two highest seeded players is held to determine the challenger. The time controls are three hours per player for the two preliminary rounds, four hours per player for the challenger league, and eight hours per player for the championship match. The championship match is held from January to March.
Winners
The following is a list of the winners and runners-up for past Ōshō title matches. No. Year Winner Score Opponent1 1951 Kōzō Masuda 4-1 Yoshio Kimura2 1952 Yasuharu Oyama 4-3 Yuzo Maruta3 1953 Yasuharu Oyama (2) 4-2 Kozo Masuda4 1954 Yasuharu Oyama (3) 4-1 Shigeyuki Matsuda5 1955 Kozo Masuda (2) 3-0 Yasuharu Oyama6 1956 Kozo Masuda (3) 4-2 Yasuharu Oyama7 1957 Yasuharu Oyama (4) 4-3 Kozo Masuda8 1958 Yasuharu Oyama (5) 3-0 9 1959 Yasuharu Oyama (6) 4-2 Tatsuya Futakami10 1960 Yasuharu Oyama (7) 4-2 Tatsuya Futakami11 1961 Yasuharu Oyama (8) 3-0 Hifumi Kato12 1962 Tatsuya Futakami 4-2 Yasuharu Oyama13 1963 Yasuharu Oyama (9) 3-0 Tatsuya Futakami14 1964 4-1 Hiroji Kato15 1965 Yasuharu Oyama (11) 4-3 Michiyoshi Yamada16 1966 Yasuharu Oyama (12) 4-1 Hifumi Kato17 1967 Yasuharu Oyama (13) 4-2 Hifumi Kato18 1968 Yasuharu Oyama (14) 4-0 Kunio Naitō19 1969 Yasuharu Oyama (15) 4-1 Tatsuya Futakami20 1970 Yasuharu Oyama (16) 4-3 Makoto Nakahara21 1971 Yasuharu Oyama (17) 4-3 Michio Ariyoshi22 1972 Makoto Nakahara 4-0 Yasuharu Oyama23 1973 Makoto Nakahara (2) 4-2 Kunio Yonenaga24 1974 Makoto Nakahara (3) 4-3 Kunio Yonenaga25 1975 Makoto Nakahara (4) 4-1 Michio Ariyoshi26 1976 Makoto Nakahara (5) 4-2 Yasuharu Oyama27 1977 Makoto Nakahara (6) 4-2 Michio Ariyoshi28 1978 Hifumi Kato 4-1 Makoto Nakahara29 1979 Yasuharu Oyama (18) 4-2 Hifumi Kato30 1980 Yasuharu Oyama (19) 4-1 Kunio Yonenaga31 1981 Yasuharu Oyama (20) 4-3 Makoto Nakahara32 1982 Kunio Yonenaga 4-1 Yasuharu Oyama33 1983 Kunio Yonenaga (2) 4-1 Keiji Mori34 1984 Makoto Nakahara (7) 4-1 Kunio Yonenaga35 1985 Osamu Nakamura 4-2 Makoto Nakahara36 1986 Osamu Nakamura (2) 4-2 Makoto Nakahara37 1987 Yoshikazu Minami 4-3 Osamu Nakamura38 1988 4-0 Akira Shima No. Year Winner Score Opponent39 1989 Kunio Yonenaga (3) 4-3 Yoshikazu Minami40 1990 Yoshikazu Minami (3) 4-2 Kunio Yonenaga41 1991 Koji Tanigawa 4-1 Yoshikazu Minami42 1992 Koji Tanigawa (2) 4-0 Satoshi Murayama43 1993 Koji Tanigawa (3) 4-2 Makoto Nakahara44 1994 Koji Tanigawa (4) 4-3 Yoshiharu Habu45 1995 Yoshiharu Habu 4-0 Koji Tanigawa46 1996 Yoshiharu Habu (2) 4-0 Koji Tanigawa47 1997 Yoshiharu Habu (3) 4-1 Yasumitsu Sato48 1998 Yoshiharu Habu (4) 4-1 Taku Morishita49 1999 Yoshiharu Habu (5) 4-0 Yasumitsu Sato50 2000 Yoshiharu Habu (6) 4-1 Koji Tanigawa51 2001 Yasumitsu Sato 4-2 Yoshiharu Habu52 2002 Yoshiharu Habu (7) 4-0 Yasumitsu Sato53 2003 Toshiyuki Moriuchi 4-2 Yoshiharu Habu54 2004 Yoshiharu Habu (8) 4-0 Toshiyuki Moriuchi55 2005 Yoshiharu Habu (9) 4-3 Yasumitsu Sato56 2006 Yoshiharu Habu (10) 4-3 Yasumitsu Sato57 2007 Yoshiharu Habu (11) 4-1 Toshiaki Kubo58 2008 Yoshiharu Habu (12) 4-3 Koichi Fukaura59 2009 Toshiaki Kubo 4-2 Yoshiharu Habu60 2010 Toshiaki Kubo (2) 4-2 61 2011 Yasumitsu Sato (2) 4-1 Toshiaki Kubo62 2012 Akira Watanabe 4-1 Yasumitsu Sato632013Akira Watanabe (2)4-3Yoshiharu Habu642014 Masataka Gōda4-3Akira Watanabe652015 Masataka Gōda (2)4-2Yoshiharu Habu662016Toshiaki Kubo (3)4-2 Masataka Gōda67 2017Toshiaki Kubo (4)4-2Masayuki Toyoshima682018Akira Watanabe (3)4-0Toshiaki Kubo692019Akira Watanabe (4)4-3Akihito Hirose702020Akira Watanabe (5)4-2Takuya Nagase712021Sōta Fujii4-0Akira Watanabe722022Sōta Fujii (2)4-2Yoshiharu Habu732023Sōta Fujii (3)4-0Tatsuya Sugai742024Sōta Fujii (4)4-1Takuya Nagase752025Sōta Fujii (5)4-3Takuya Nagase
Records Most titles overall: Yasuharu Oyama, 20 Most consecutive titles: Yasuharu Oyama, 9 in a row (1963-1971)
Lifetime Ōshō
is the title given to a player who has won the championship ten times. An active player may qualify for the title, but it is only officially awarded upon retirement or death. Yasuharu Oyama and Yoshiharu Habu are the only players who have qualified for this title: Oyama qualified in 1973 and Habu qualified for the title in 2007.
Parallel in amateur shogi
There is a separate tournament held each year for amateurs called the which is sponsored by the Japan Shogi Association with support from the Igo & Shogi Channel. The winner is awarded the title .
References
External links Mainichi Shimbun: Ōshō tournament Sports Nippon: Shogi Shogi Tournament Database: Ōshō tournament