# Ōshō (shogi)

Ōshō (王将, ōshō) 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 ALSOK [ja] and the Igo & Shogi Channel.
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 shogi professionals (正棋士, seikishi) 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 "challenger league (挑戦者決定リーグ戦, Chōsensha Kettei Rīgusen)" 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 | Opponent |
| 1 | 1951 | Kōzō Masuda | 4-1 | Yoshio Kimura |
| 2 | 1952 | Yasuharu Oyama | 4-3 | Yuzo Maruta |
| 3 | 1953 | Yasuharu Oyama (2) | 4-2 | Kozo Masuda |
| 4 | 1954 | Yasuharu Oyama (3) | 4-1 | Shigeyuki Matsuda |
| 5 | 1955 | Kozo Masuda (2) | 3-0 | Yasuharu Oyama |
| 6 | 1956 | Kozo Masuda (3) | 4-2 | Yasuharu Oyama |
| 7 | 1957 | Yasuharu Oyama (4) | 4-3 | Kozo Masuda |
| 8 | 1958 | Yasuharu Oyama (5) | 3-0 | Kazukiyo Takashima |
| 9 | 1959 | Yasuharu Oyama (6) | 4-2 | Tatsuya Futakami |
| 10 | 1960 | Yasuharu Oyama (7) | 4-2 | Tatsuya Futakami |
| 11 | 1961 | Yasuharu Oyama (8) | 3-0 | Hifumi Kato |
| 12 | 1962 | Tatsuya Futakami | 4-2 | Yasuharu Oyama |
| 13 | 1963 | Yasuharu Oyama (9) | 3-0 | Tatsuya Futakami |
| 14 | 1964 | Yasuharu Oyama (10) | 4-1 | Hiroji Kato |
| 15 | 1965 | Yasuharu Oyama (11) | 4-3 | Michiyoshi Yamada |
| 16 | 1966 | Yasuharu Oyama (12) | 4-1 | Hifumi Kato |
| 17 | 1967 | Yasuharu Oyama (13) | 4-2 | Hifumi Kato |
| 18 | 1968 | Yasuharu Oyama (14) | 4-0 | Kunio Naitō |
| 19 | 1969 | Yasuharu Oyama (15) | 4-1 | Tatsuya Futakami |
| 20 | 1970 | Yasuharu Oyama (16) | 4-3 | Makoto Nakahara |
| 21 | 1971 | Yasuharu Oyama (17) | 4-3 | Michio Ariyoshi |
| 22 | 1972 | Makoto Nakahara | 4-0 | Yasuharu Oyama |
| 23 | 1973 | Makoto Nakahara (2) | 4-2 | Kunio Yonenaga |
| 24 | 1974 | Makoto Nakahara (3) | 4-3 | Kunio Yonenaga |
| 25 | 1975 | Makoto Nakahara (4) | 4-1 | Michio Ariyoshi |
| 26 | 1976 | Makoto Nakahara (5) | 4-2 | Yasuharu Oyama |
| 27 | 1977 | Makoto Nakahara (6) | 4-2 | Michio Ariyoshi |
| 28 | 1978 | Hifumi Kato | 4-1 | Makoto Nakahara |
| 29 | 1979 | Yasuharu Oyama (18) | 4-2 | Hifumi Kato |
| 30 | 1980 | Yasuharu Oyama (19) | 4-1 | Kunio Yonenaga |
| 31 | 1981 | Yasuharu Oyama (20) | 4-3 | Makoto Nakahara |
| 32 | 1982 | Kunio Yonenaga | 4-1 | Yasuharu Oyama |
| 33 | 1983 | Kunio Yonenaga (2) | 4-1 | Keiji Mori |
| 34 | 1984 | Makoto Nakahara (7) | 4-1 | Kunio Yonenaga |
| 35 | 1985 | Osamu Nakamura | 4-2 | Makoto Nakahara |
| 36 | 1986 | Osamu Nakamura (2) | 4-2 | Makoto Nakahara |
| 37 | 1987 | Yoshikazu Minami | 4-3 | Osamu Nakamura |
| No. | Year | Winner | Score | Opponent |
| 38 | 1988 | Yoshikazu Minami (2) | 4-0 | Akira Shima |
| 39 | 1989 | Kunio Yonenaga (3) | 4-3 | Yoshikazu Minami |
| 40 | 1990 | Yoshikazu Minami (3) | 4-2 | Kunio Yonenaga |
| 41 | 1991 | Koji Tanigawa | 4-1 | Yoshikazu Minami |
| 42 | 1992 | Koji Tanigawa (2) | 4-0 | Satoshi Murayama |
| 43 | 1993 | Koji Tanigawa (3) | 4-2 | Makoto Nakahara |
| 44 | 1994 | Koji Tanigawa (4) | 4-3 | Yoshiharu Habu |
| 45 | 1995 | Yoshiharu Habu | 4-0 | Koji Tanigawa |
| 46 | 1996 | Yoshiharu Habu (2) | 4-0 | Koji Tanigawa |
| 47 | 1997 | Yoshiharu Habu (3) | 4-1 | Yasumitsu Sato |
| 48 | 1998 | Yoshiharu Habu (4) | 4-1 | Taku Morishita |
| 49 | 1999 | Yoshiharu Habu (5) | 4-0 | Yasumitsu Sato |
| 50 | 2000 | Yoshiharu Habu (6) | 4-1 | Koji Tanigawa |
| 51 | 2001 | Yasumitsu Sato | 4-2 | Yoshiharu Habu |
| 52 | 2002 | Yoshiharu Habu (7) | 4-0 | Yasumitsu Sato |
| 53 | 2003 | Toshiyuki Moriuchi | 4-2 | Yoshiharu Habu |
| 54 | 2004 | Yoshiharu Habu (8) | 4-0 | Toshiyuki Moriuchi |
| 55 | 2005 | Yoshiharu Habu (9) | 4-3 | Yasumitsu Sato |
| 56 | 2006 | Yoshiharu Habu (10) | 4-3 | Yasumitsu Sato |
| 57 | 2007 | Yoshiharu Habu (11) | 4-1 | Toshiaki Kubo |
| 58 | 2008 | Yoshiharu Habu (12) | 4-3 | Koichi Fukaura |
| 59 | 2009 | Toshiaki Kubo | 4-2 | Yoshiharu Habu |
| 60 | 2010 | Toshiaki Kubo (2) | 4-2 | Masayuki Toyoshima |
| 61 | 2011 | Yasumitsu Sato (2) | 4-1 | Toshiaki Kubo |
| 62 | 2012 | Akira Watanabe | 4-1 | Yasumitsu Sato |
| 63 | 2013 | Akira Watanabe (2) | 4-3 | Yoshiharu Habu |
| 64 | 2014 | Masataka Gōda | 4-3 | Akira Watanabe |
| 65 | 2015 | Masataka Gōda (2) | 4-2 | Yoshiharu Habu |
| 66 | 2016 | Toshiaki Kubo (3) | 4-2 | Masataka Gōda |
| 67 | 2017 | Toshiaki Kubo (4) | 4-2 | Masayuki Toyoshima |
| 68 | 2018 | Akira Watanabe (3) | 4-0 | Toshiaki Kubo |
| 69 | 2019 | Akira Watanabe (4) | 4-3 | Akihito Hirose |
| 70 | 2020 | Akira Watanabe (5) | 4-2 | Takuya Nagase |
| 71 | 2021 | Sōta Fujii | 4-0 | Akira Watanabe |
| 72 | 2022 | Sōta Fujii (2) | 4-2 | Yoshiharu Habu |
| 73 | 2023 | Sōta Fujii (3) | 4-0 | Tatsuya Sugai |
| 74 | 2024 | Sōta Fujii (4) | 4-1 | Takuya Nagase |

## Records

* Most titles overall: Yasuharu Oyama, 20
* Most consecutive titles: Yasuharu Oyama, 9 in a row (1963-1971)

## Lifetime Ōshō

"Lifetime Ōshō" (永世王将, Eisei 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 Amateur Osho Tournament which is sponsored by the Japan Shogi Association with support from the Igo & Shogi Channel. The winner is awarded the title "Amateur Ōshō" (アマ王将, Ama Ōshō).