Kisei
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Go Saint
Kisei is Japanese for Go Saint. Prior to 1976 when the Kisei Go Tournament was established, the term Kisei was conferred on two people only: Dosaku and Shusaku, two players of the Japanese classical period.
See Honinbo Jowa - Sage or Scoundrel by John Fairbairn that describes Jowa's elevation to the "status" of Kisei and his subsequent downfall from that position among the elite.
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 ¥42,000,000 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 title Honorary Kisei is given to those players who have previously won the Kisei title five years in a row. Currently, this includes Fujisawa Hideyuki and Kobayashi Koichi.
Tournament Winners
1st 1977 Fujisawa Hideyuki (d. Hashimoto Utaro 4-1) 2nd 1978 Fujisawa Hideyuki (d. Kato Masao 4-3) 3rd 1979 Fujisawa Hideyuki (d. Ishida Yoshio 4-1) 4th 1980 Fujisawa Hideyuki (d. Rin Kaiho 4-1) 5th 1981 Fujisawa Hideyuki (d. Otake Hideo 4-0) 6th 1982 Fujisawa Hideyuki (d. Rin Kaiho 4-3) 7th 1983 Cho Chikun (d. Fujisawa Hideyuki 4-3) 8th 1984 Cho Chikun (d. Rin Kaiho 4-2) 9th 1985 Cho Chikun (d. Takemiya Masaki 4-3) 10th 1986 Kobayashi Koichi (d. Cho Chikun 4-2) 11th 1987 Kobayashi Koichi (d. Takemiya Masaki 4-1) 12th 1988 Kobayashi Koichi (d. Kato Masao 4-1) 13th 1989 Kobayashi Koichi (d. Takemiya Masaki 4-1) 14th 1990 Kobayashi Koichi (d. Otake Hideo 4-1) 15th 1991 Kobayashi Koichi (d. Kato Masao 4-3) 16th 1992 Kobayashi Koichi (d. Yamashiro Hiroshi 4-3) 17th 1993 Kobayashi Koichi (d. Kato Masao 4-3) 18th 1994 Cho Chikun (d. Kobayashi Koichi 4-2) 19th 1995 Kobayashi Satoru (d. Cho Chikun 4-2) 20th 1996 Cho Chikun (d. Kobayashi Satoru 4-3) 21st 1997 Cho Chikun (d. Kobayashi Satoru 4-1) 22nd 1998 Cho Chikun (d. Yoda Norimoto 4-2) 23rd 1999 Cho Chikun (d. Kobayashi Koichi 4-2) 24th 2000 O Rissei (d. Cho Chikun 4-2) 25th 2001 O Rissei (d. Cho Sonjin 4-2) 26th 2002 O Rissei (d. Ryu Shikun 4-2) 27th 2003 Yamashita Keigo (d. O Rissei 4-1) 28th 2004 Hane Naoki (d. Yamashita Keigo 4-3) 29th 2005 Hane Naoki (d. Yuki Satoshi 4-3) 30th 2006 Yamashita Keigo (d. Hane Naoki 4-0) 31st 2007 Yamashita Keigo (d. Kobayashi Satoru 4-0) 32nd 2008 Yamashita Keigo (d. Cho Chikun 4-3) 33rd 2009 Yamashita Keigo (d. Yoda Norimoto 4-2)
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 Ihirani 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 ???