63rd NHK Cup (shogi)


The 63rd NHK Cup, or as it is officially known the 63rd NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament was a professional shogi tournament organized by the Japan Shogi Association and sponsored by Japan's public broadcaster NHK. Play began on April 7, 2013, and ended on March 23, 2014. The 50-player single elimination tournament was won by Masataka Gōda. All of the tournament games were shown on NHK-E. The Sports commentator#Main/Play-by-play commentator during the NHK-E broadcasts was female professional Rieko Yauchi.

Participants

Preliminary tournaments

A total of 130 professional shogi players competed in 18 preliminary tournaments to qualify for the main tournament. These tournaments were non-televised one-day tournaments held at the Tokyo Shogi Kaikan and the Kansai Shogi Kaikan. 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 female professional seed was Hatsumi Ueda. 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 time control#Japanese byo-yomi 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 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 when the final byōyomi time control of 30 seconds per move began. Sente was determined prior to each game by piece toss.
The 50 players listed below qualified for the main tournament.

Notes:
  • "No." represents the bracket position of the player in their respective block and "Rank/Title" represents the rank or titles held by the player when the original bracket finalized. A dan grading system is used for ranking players.
  • Players whose names are in bold were seeded directly into the main tournament as follows:
  1. 62nd NHK Cup : Watanabe, Habu, Suzuki and Gōda.
  2. Seven major titleholders : Moriuchi and Satō
  3. Class A : Miura, Tanigawa, Yashiki, Takahashi, Hashimoto and Fukaura
  4. Class B1 : Maruyama, Kubo, Akutsu, Kimura, Namekata, Yamasaki, Inoue, Matsuo, Nakata, Hatakeyama, Hirose and Iizuka
  5. Other tournament winners : Nagase
  6. Women's professional : Ueda Women's 3 dan
  7. Others with outstanding records : Iijima, Toyoshima, Murayama, Itodani, Nakamura, Ōishi
  • The remaining players qualified by winning preliminary tournaments.
The bracket at the start of the tournament is 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 expert 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 7, 2013, and ended on August 8, 2013. The 18 preliminary tournament winners were paired against 18 seeded players.
No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1ATaichi Nakamura 6dHirotaka Nozuki 7d165April 7, 2013Chikara Akutsu 7d
2BEiji Iijima 7dTaichi Takami 4d97April 14, 2013Kiyokazu Katsumata 6d
3AKōji Horiguchi 7dTakuya Nagase 5d106April 21, 2013Osamu Nakamura 9d
4BKeiji Mori 9dMamoru Hatakeyama 7d109April 28, 2013Bungo Fukusaki 9d
5BHiroki Nakata 8dYūki Sasaki 4d105May 5, 2013 9d
6ADaisuke Nakagawa 8dAyumu Matsuo 7d184May 12, 2013Takahiro Toyokawa 7d
7BTadashi Ōishi 5dMasahiko Urano 8d113May 19, 2013Isao Nakata 7d
8AAmahiko Satō 7dTakayuki Yamasaki 7d155May 26, 2013Akira Inaba 6d
9BHisashi Namekata 8dManabu Senzaki 8d119June 2, 2013Yoshiharu Habu 3 crown
10BKensuke Kitahama 8dKazuki Kimura 8d150June 9, 2013Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d
11BIsao Nakata 7dChikara Akutsu 7d120June 16, 2013Masahiko Urano 8d
12BKōta Kanai 4dKeita Inoue 9d119June 23, 2013Tadao Kitajima 6d
13AYasuaki Murayama 6dKōru Abe 4d143June 30, 2013Taichi Nakamura 6d
14ATetsurō Itodani 6dKōhei Funae 5d176July 7, 2013Takayuki Yamasaki 7d
15BIssei Takazaki 6dHiroki Iizuka 7d119July 14, 2013Daisuke Nakagawa 8d
16AAkihito Hirose 7dShōji Seigawa 5d151July 21, 2013Eiji Iijima 7d
17ATomohiro Murata 6dMasayuki Toyoshima 7d138July 28, 2013Takashi Abe 8d
18AHatsumi Ueda W3dKazuhiro Nishikawa 4d112August 4, 2013Makoto Tobe 6d

Round 2

A total of 16 games were played in round 2. Play began on August 11, 2013, and ended on November 24, 2013. The 18 winners from round 1 were joined by the 14 players who had received round 1 byes.
No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1BKeiji Mori 9dNobuyuki Yashiki 9d96August 11, 2013Michio Takahashi 9d
2AToshiyuki Moriuchi MeijinAyumu Matsuo 7d125August 18, 2013Hirotaka Nozuki 7d
3ATaichi Nakamura 6dMichio Takahashi 9d104August 25, 2013Kōichi Fukaura 9d
4BEiji Iijima 7dTadahisa Maruyama 9d88September 1, 2013Akira Watanabe NHK Cup
5AAmahiko Satō 7dYasuaki Murayama 6d120September 8, 2013Kazuki Kimura 8d
6BKōta Kanai 5dToshiaki Kubo 9d117September 15, 2013Takeshi Fujii 9d
7BDaisuke Suzuki 8dIssei Takazaki 6d212September 22, 2013Manabu Senzaki 8d
8AMasayuki Toyoshima 7dYasumitsu Satō 9d103September 29, 2013Kōji Tanigawa 9d
9AAkira Watanabe NHK CupAkihito Hirose 7d98October 6, 2013Amahiko Satō 7d
10BHiroki Nakata 8dTakanori Hashimoto 8d117October 13, 2013Ayumu Matsuo 7d
11AKōji Tanigawa 9dKazuhiro Nishikawa 4d124October 20, 2013Toshiaki Kubo 9d
12BYoshiharu Habu 3 crownKazuki Kimura 8d131October 27, 2013Yasumitsu Satō 9d
13AMasataka Gōda 9dTakuya Nagase 6d105November 3, 2013Taku Morishita 9d
14BHiroyuki Miura 9dChikara Akutsu 7d99November 10, 2013Hisashi Namekata 8d
15BTadashi Ōishi 6dHisashi Namekata 8d77November 17, 2013Kensuke Kitahama 8d
16AKōhei Funae 5dKōichi Fukaura 9d85November 24, 2013Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d

Round 3

Play began on December 1, 2013, and ended on January 26, 2014. Out of the 18 preliminary tournament winners, only the following four made it to round 3: Kanai 5d, Nishikawa 4d, Takazaki 6d and Funae 5d
No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1BTadahisa Maruyama 9dKōta Kanai 5d149December 1, 2013Masataka Gōda 9d
2AAkihito Hirose 7dYasuaki Murayama 6d124December 8, 2013Daisuke Suzuki 8d
3AMasataka Gōda 9dMichio Takahashi 9d81December 15, 2013Osamu Nakamura 9d
4BYoshiharu Habu 3 crownTadashi Ōishi 6d126December 22, 2013Takayuki Yamasaki 8d
5BHiroyuki Miura 9dIssei Takazaki 6d163January 5, 2014Akihito Hirose 7d
6BNobuyuki Yashiki 9dHiroki Nakata 8d129January 12, 2014Akira Shima 9d
7AToshiyuki Moriuchi 2 crownKōhei Funae 5d117January 19, 2014Takashi Abe 8d
8AMasayuki Toyoshima 7dKazuhiro Nishikawa 4d154January 26, 2014Akira Inaba 7d

Quarterfinals

The eight remaining players were paired off against each other with play beginning on February 2 and ending on February 23, 2014. Only one major titleholder, Moriuchi 2 crown, made it as far as the quarterfinals.
No.BlockSenteGoteNo. of movesDateGuest Analyst
1AToshiyuki Moriuchi 2 CrownMasataka Gōda 9d120February 2, 2014Yasumitsu Satō 9d
2BTadahisa Maruyama 9dHiroyuki Miura 9d117February 9, 2014Kazuki Kimura 8d
3AYoshiaki Murayama 6dKazuhiro Nishikawa 4d117February 16, 2014Chikara Akutsu 8d
4BTadashi Ōishi 6dNobuyuki Yashiki 9d102February 23, 2014Masayuki Toyoshima 7d

Semifinals

The two remaining players from each block with paired against each other to determine the respective block winners. The 1st semifinal game between Kazuhiro Nishikawa 4d and Masataka Gōda 9d was broadcast on March 2, 2014. Gōda won the game in 128 moves, thus stopping Nishikawa's NHK Cup winning streak at six. The guest analyst was Kunio Naitō 9d. The 2nd semifinal game was between Tadashi Ōishi 6d and Tadahisa Maruyama 9d. The game was broadcast on March 9, 2014, and won by Maruyama in 104 moves. The guest analyst was Daisuke Katagami 6d.

Finals

After 112 preliminary tournament games and 48 main tournament games involving 162 players, Tadashisa Maruyama 9d and Masataka Gōda 9d met in the final broadcast on March 23, 2014. This was the second NHK Cup final appearance for both players: Maruyama defeated Akira Watanabe to win the 55th NHK Cup and Gōda was runner-up to Daisuke Suzuki in the 49th NHK Cup. The piece toss before the game resulted in Maruyama being sente. Gōda won the game in 82 moves, thus winning the tournament for the first time and becoming the 63rd NHK Cup Champion. The guest analysts for the final match were Toshiyuki Moriuchi 2-crown and Keita Inoue 9d and the hosts of the final were NHK announcer and women's professional Rieko Yauchi.
The game score and a diagram showing the final position is given below.

Sente: Tadahisa Maruyama 9d

Gote: Masataka Gōda 9d

Opening: Yokufudori

1. P-2f, 2. P-3d, 3. P-7f, 4. P-8d, 5. P-2e, 6. P-8e, 7. G-7h, 8. G-3b, 9. P-2d, 10. Px2d, 11. Rx2d, 12. P-8f, 13. Px8f, 14. Rx8f, 15. Rx3d, 16. B-3c, 17. K-5h, 18. K-4a, 19. P-3f, 20. G-5a, 21. N-3g, 22. S-6b, 23. S-3h, 24. S-2b, 25. P-9f, 26. P-9d, 27. N-4e, 28. P*3g, 29. Sx3g, 30. Bx8h+, 31. Sx8h, 32. B*5e, 33. B*7g, 34. Rx7f, 35. R-8d, 36. Bx3g+, 37. Rx8a+, 38. R-7e, 39. G-4h, 40. +Bx4h, 41. Kx4h, 42. Rx4e, 43. B*3d, 44. R-7e, 45. K-5h, 46. S-3c, 47. B-1f, 48. N*6e, 49. P*2d, 50. P*2b, 51. +Rx9a, 52. Nx7g+, 53. Sx7g, 54. B*3g, 55. N*3e, 56. P*3d, 57. L*4f, 58. S*4b, 59. P*7b, 60. Px3e, 61. P-6f, 62. N*8e, 63. P-7a+, 64. Nx7g+, 65. Nx7g, 66. S*7f, 67. N*8i, 68. G*5i, 69. K-6h, 70. B-4h+, 71. +P-7b, 72. +B-5h, 73. K-7i, 74. +B-6i, 75. K-8h, 76. +Bx7h, 77. Kx7h, 78. G*6g, 79. K-8h, 80. Gx7g, 81. Nx7g, 82. Sx7g+, sente resigns
The final tournament bracket is shown below.

Other

Sente won 27 of the 49 games.
  • The average number of moves for the main tournament games was 122. The most moves played in a single game was 212 while the fewest moves played was 77.
  • There were no replays resulting from Shogi#Winning or Shogi#Winning, and there were no disqualifications due to illegal moves or time forfeits.
  • The age breakdown for the players who qualified was as follows: 10–19 years old, 3 players; 20–29 years old, 14 players; 30–39 years old, 15 players; 40–49 years old, 15 players; 50–59 years old, 2 players; 60+ years old, 1 player. The oldest player was Keiji Mori 9d and the youngest player was Kōru Abe 4d.