The Honinbo () is a Go competition and the oldest Go title in Japan. Sponsored by Mainichi Shimbun, the Honinbo pays out ¥28 million to the winner (since the 74th Honinbo in 2019).
Rules The holder of the title 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 eight hours of thinking time. If a player qualifies for the Honinbo league, they are automatically promoted to 7 dan. If that same player wins the league, a promotion to 8 dan is given. If that same player goes on to win the title, they are promoted to 9 dan, the highest rank.
Past winners Year Winner Score Runner-up 1941 Riichi Sekiyama 3–3* Shin Kato 1943 Utaro Hashimoto 2–0 Riichi Sekiyama 1945 Kaoru Iwamoto 3–3(2–0)** Utaro Hashimoto 1947 3–2 Minoru Kitani 1950 Utaro Hashimoto 4–0 Kaoru Iwamoto 1951 4–3 Eio Sakata 1952 Kaku Takagawa 4–1 Utaro Hashimoto 1953 4–2 Minoru Kitani 1954 4–2 Masao Sugiuchi 1955 4–0 Toshihiro Shimamura 1956 4–2 1957 4–2 Hosai Fujisawa 1958 4–2 Masao Sugiuchi 1959 4–2 Minoru Kitani 1960 4–2 Hideyuki Fujisawa 1961 Eio Sakata 4–1 Kaku Takagawa 1962 4–1 Dogen Handa 1963 4–2 Kaku Takagawa 1964 4–0 1965 4–0 Toshiro Yamabe 1966 4–0 Hideyuki Fujisawa 1967 4–1 Rin Kaiho 1968 Rin Kaiho 4–3 Eio Sakata 1969 4–2 Masao Kato 1970 4–0 Eio Sakata 1971 Yoshio Ishida 4–2 Rin Kaiho 1972 4–3 1973 4–0 1974 4–3 Masaki Takemiya 1975 4–3 Eio Sakata 1976 Masaki Takemiya 4–1 Yoshio Ishida 1977 Masao Kato 4–1 Masaki Takemiya 1978 4–3 Yoshio Ishida 1979 4–1 Rin Kaiho 1980 Masaki Takemiya 4–1 Masao Kato 1981 Cho Chikun 4–2 Masaki Takemiya 1982 4–2 Koichi Kobayashi 1983 Rin Kaiho 4–3 Cho Chikun 1984 4–1 Shuzo Awaji 1985 Masaki Takemiya 4–1 Rin Kaiho 1986 4–1 Hiroshi Yamashiro 1987 4–0 1988 4–3 Hideo Otake 1989 Cho Chikun 4–0 Masaki Takemiya 1990 4–3 Koichi Kobayashi 1991 4–2 1992 4–3 1993 4–1 Hiroshi Yamashiro 1994 4–3 Satoshi Kataoka 1995 4–1 Masao Kato 1996 4–2 Ryu Shikun 1997 4–0 Masao Kato 1998 4–2 O Rissei 1999 Cho Sonjin 4–2 Cho Chikun 2000 O Meien 4–2 Cho Sonjin 2001 4–3 Cho U 2002 Masao Kato 4–2 O Meien 2003 Cho U 4–2 Masao Kato 2004 4–2 Norimoto Yoda 2005 Shinji Takao 4–1 Cho U 2006 4–2 Kimio Yamada 2007 4–1 Norimoto Yoda 2008 Naoki Hane 4–3 Shinji Takao 2009 4–2 2010 Keigo Yamashita 4–1 Naoki Hane 2011 4–3 2012 Yuta Iyama 4–3 Keigo Yamashita 2013 4–3 Shinji Takao 2014 4–1 Atsushi Ida 2015 4–1 Keigo Yamashita 2016 4–1 Shinji Takao 2017 4–0 Katsuya Motoki 2018 4–1 Keigo Yamashita 2019 4–2 Rin Kono 2020 4–1 Toramaru Shibano 2021 4–3 2022 4–0 Ryo Ichiriki 2023 Ryo Ichiriki 4–3 Yuta Iyama 2024 3–0 Yo Seiki 2025 3–2 Toramaru Shibano 2026 Kotaro Fukuoka 3–2 Ryo Ichiriki
References
External links Honinbo Title Honinbo title games
ja:本因坊#本因坊戦