Kisei
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Go Saint
Kisei is Japanese title for Go Sage (or Go Saint). The first person called Kisei was Kanren?, a Buddhist high priest in the 9-10th centuries, who taught go to Japanese emperors. (He was inducted to Nihon Ki-in Hall of Fame in 2016.) Following Kanren, the term was conferred to Honinbo Dosaku and Honinbo Jowa. Then after the publication of Zain Danso, Jowa's infamous intrigues were revealed and the title was informally stripped from him and given to Honinbo Shusaku[1]. Later, Go Seigen was called the 'Showa era Kisei' for his overwhelming successes in his 10-game matches.
In 1976, the Kisei go tournament was established. As per normal, Japanese big title conventions, anyone attaining the Kisei title a) five or more years in a row, or b) ten or more years in all, was conferred the title Honorary Kisei (although no one has yet attained the latter b) feat).
In China, the term Qisheng is equivalent to Japan's Kisei and was applied to several ancient players.
Japanese Tournament
The Kisei Go Tournament, established in 1976, is the most prestigious big title of the Japanese professional Go scene. It has been sponsored since its inception by the Yomiuri Shinbun. The winner's prize is ¥45,000,000 currently, making it the richest Go tournament in the world.
Due to the importance of the Kisei as one of the "big three" titles in Japan (along with the Honinbo and Meijin), there are several paths of automatic rank advancement through it in the Nihon Ki-in new promotion system. Qualifying for the Kisei league warrants a promotion to 7-dan, winning the league to challenge for the title promotes to 8-dan, and finally winning the title itself gives an immediate 9-dan promotion.
As with each of the three Japanese big titles, the previous year's title holder is challenged by the winner of a league. Entry to the league is gained through a series of preliminary tournaments. The title is decided in a best of seven match, where each player is given eight hours of thinking time over a two day period. The format of the 40th Kisei will be a complex 62 player league. See Kisei League Format
The title Honorary Kisei is given to those players who have previously won the Kisei title five years in a row (or, ten years in all). Such a player can use the title on retirement or at the age of 60. Currently, this includes Fujisawa Hideyuki, Kobayashi Koichi and Iyama Yuta.
Tournament Winners
Title Match First Game Location
The first game of the title match is often held in a major Western city as a way of promoting Go worldwide.
9th 1985 Seoul, South Korea Lotte Hotel 10th 1986 Takaoka City, Japan Amehare Heights 11th 1987 Los Angeles, California, USA New Otani Hotel 12th 1988 Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Kaimana Beach Hotel 13th 1989 New York, New York, USA Hotel Kitano 14th 1990 Duesseldorf, Germany Hotel Nikko Duesseldorf 15th 1991 Sao Paulo, Brazil Caesar Park Hotel 16th 1992 Sydney, Australia Hotel Nikko Darling Harbour 17th 1993 Hong Kong Hotel Nikko Hong Kong 18th 1994 Shanghai, China Garden Hotel 19th 1995 Atlanta, Georgia, USA Hotel Nikko Atlanta 20th 1996 Amsterdam, Netherlands Hotel Okura Amsterdam 21st 1997 Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Ihilani Resort & Spa 22nd 1998 Hong Kong Grand Hyatt Hotel 23rd 1999 Paris, France Japanese Culture Centre 24th 2000 Nago City, Okinawa Busena Terrace Beach Resort 25th 2001 Taipei, Taiwan Hotel Royal Taipei 26th 2002 London, England, UK Montcalm Hotel Nikko 27th 2003 Tokyo, Japan Palace Hotel 28th 2004 Seattle, Washington, USA Fairmont Olympic Hotel 29th 2005 Niigata City, Japan Hotel Okura Niigata 30th 2006 Berlin, Germany Intercontinental Hotel 31st 2007 Asahikawa City, Japan Asahikawa Palace Hotel 32nd 2008 Sao Paolo, Brazil ??? 33rd 2009 Sapporo, Japan ??? 34th 2010 Taipei, Taiwan ??? 35th 2011 Aizuwakamatsu, Japan Konjakutei Ryokan 36th 2012 Kurashiki, Japan ??? 37th 2013 Naha, Okinawa ??? 38th 2014 Alcala de Henares, Espana ???
Notes
[1] Source: Honinbo Jowa - Sage or Scoundrel by John Fairbairn