62nd NHK Cup (shogi)

The 62nd NHK Cup, or as it is officially known the 62nd NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament (第62回NHK杯テレビ将棋トーナメント, dairokujūnikai enueichikeihai terebi shōgi tōnamento) was a professional shogi tournament organized by the Japan Shogi Association and sponsored by Japan's public broadcaster NHK. Play began on April 8, 2012, and ended on March 17, 2013. The 50-player single elimination tournament was won by Akira Watanabe. All of the tournament games were shown on NHK-E. The host (司会者, shikaisha) during the NHK-E broadcasts was female professional Rieko Yauchi.

Participants

Preliminary tournaments

A total of 127 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 women's professional seed was determined by a single-game playoff between Hatsumi Ueda and Tomomi Kai, which was won by Kai.

Below are the bracket from two of the preliminary tournaments.

7-player preliminary tournament won by Atsushi Miyata 6d

8-player preliminary tournament won by Akira Inaba 5d

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 "thinking time" (考慮時間, kōryō jikan) 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 (more specifically 59 seconds) 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. Then, the final byōyomi time control of 30 seconds per move then began. Sente was determined prior to each game by piece toss.

The 50 players listed below qualified for the main tournament.

No. Player Rank/Title A1 Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup A2 Atsushi Miyata 6d A3 Takanori Hashimoto 8d A4 Kensuke Kitahama 7d A5 Takayuki Yamasaki 7d A6 Shōji Segawa 4d A7 Hiroki Nakata 8d A8 Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin A9 Chikara Akutsu 7d A10 Shingo Hirafuji 7d A11 Osamu Nakamura 9d A12 Kenjirō Abe 5d A13 Takeshi Fujii 9d A14 Hiroyuki Miura 8d A15 Tatsuya Sugai 5d A16 Masataka Sugimoto 7d A17 Hiroshi Kamiya 7d A18 Takuya Nagase 4d A19 Kazuki Kimura 8d A20 Masataka Gōda Kiō A21 Kōru Abe 4d A22 Mitsunori Makino 4d A23 Yoshikazu Minami 9d A24 Hisashi Namekata 8d A25 Toshiaki Kubo 9d

No. Player Rank/Title B1 Akira Watanabe Ryūō B2 Keita Kadokura 4d B3 Kōichi Fukaura 9d B4 Hiroshi Kobayashi 7d B5 Taichi Nakamura 5d B6 Toshiyuki Nakao 5d B7 Ayumu Matsuo 7d B8 Tadahisa Maruyama 9d B9 Tadashi Ōishi 4d B10 Akira Inaba 5d B11 Amahiko Satō 6d B12 Kazutoshi Satō 5d B13 Yasumitsu Satō ōshō B14 Kōji Tanigawa 9d B15 Sakio Chiba 6d B16 Daisuke Suzuki 8d B17 Akira Shima 9d B18 Keita Inoue 9d B19 Michio Takahashi 9d B20 Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d B21 Tomomi Kai W4d B22 Hirotaka Nozuki 7d B23 Shin'ya Satō 6d B24 Masayuki Toyoshima 6d B25 Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d

Notes:

• "No." represents the bracket position of the player in their respective block and "Rank/Title" represents the rank or title(s) held by the player when the original bracket was finalized. A dan/kyū (段級, dankyū) grading system is used for ranking players.
• Players whose names are in bold were seeded directly into the main tournament and are as follows:

1. 61st NHK Cup (four players): Habu (champion), Watanabe (runner-up), Kubo (semifinalist) and Hatakeyama (semifinalist).
2. Seven major titleholders (two players): Moriuchi (Meijin) and Gōda (Kiō)
3. Class A (six players): Y. Satō, Miura, Tanigawa, Yashiki, Takahashi, and Maruyama
4. Class B1 (twelve players): Kimura, Fujii, Fukaura, Matsuo, Namekata, Yamasaki, Suzuki, Nakata, Inoue, Nakamura, Hashimoto and Akutsu
5. Other tournament winners (two players): A. Satō (Shinjin-Ō) and Sugai (Daiwa Cup)
6. Women's professional (one player): Kai Women's 4 dan (Women's ōi)
7. Others with outstanding records (five players): Toyoshima (Class C1), Nakamura (Class C2), Ōishi (Class C2), Nagase (Class C2) and Makino (Class C2)

Among these 32 seeds, the following 14 were given byes in round 1 and began play in round 2: Habu, Watanabe, Kubo, Hatakeyama, Moriuchi, Gōda, Y. Satō, Miura, Tanigawa, Yashiki, Takahashi, Maruyama, Kimura and Fujii.

• The remaining players qualified by winning preliminary tournaments.

The bracket at the start of the tournament in shown below.

62nd NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament bracket (start)

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 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 8, 2012, and ended on August 12, 2012. The 18 preliminary tournament winners were paired against 18 seeded players.

No.	Block	Sente	Gote	No. of moves	Date	Guest Analyst
1	B	Tadashi Ōishi 4d	Akira Inaba 5d	96	April 8, 2012	Takayuki Yamasaki 7d
2	A	Kōru Abe 4d	Mitsunori Makino 4d	167	April 15, 2012	Osamu Nakamura 9d
3	B	Shinya Satō 6d	Masayuki Toyoshima 7d	106	April 22, 2012	Amahiko Satō 7d
4	B	Hiroshi Kobayashi 7d	Taichi Nakamura 6d	80	April 29, 2012	Eiji Iijima 7d
5	B	Sakio Chiba 6d	Daisuke Suzuki 8d	184	May 6, 2012	Tadao Kitajima 6d
6	A	Yoshikazu Minami 9d	Hisashi Namekata 8d	112	May 13, 2012	Bungo Fukusaki 9d
7	A	Takuya Nagase 4d	Hiroshi Kamiya 7d	67	May 20, 2012	Akira Shima 9d
8	A	Hiroki Nakata 8d	Shōji Seigawa 4d	103	May 27, 2012	Takahiro Toyokawa 7d
9	A	Osamu Nakamura 9d	Kenjirō Abe 5d	106	June 3, 2012	Hirouki Miura 8d
10	B	Ayumu Matsuo 7d	Toshiyuki Nakao 5d	129	June 10, 2012	Teruichi Aono 9d
11	B	Kōichi Fukaura 9d	Keita Kadokura 4d	85	June 17, 2012	Kazuo Ishida 9d
12	B	Amahiko Satō 7d	Kazutoshi Satō 5d	131	June 24, 2012	Makoto Tobe 6d
13	B	Keita Inoue 9d	Akira Shima 9d	86	July 1, 2012	Yoshikazu Minami 9d
14	B	Tomomi Kai W-4d	Hirotaka Notsuki 7d	86	July 8, 2012	Yūsuke Tōyama 5d
15	A	Masataka Sugimoto 7d	Tatsuya Sugai 5d	115	July 15, 2012	Takashi Abe 8d
16	A	Takanori Hashimoto 8d	Atsushi Miyata 6d	133	July 22, 2012	Akira Watanabe Ryūō
17	A	Shingo Hirafuji 7d	Chikara Akutsu 7d	112	July 29, 2012	Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d
18	A	Kensuke Kitahama 7d	Takayuki Yamasaki 7d	86	August 5, 2012	Masayuki Toyoshima 7d

Round 2

A total of 16 games were played in round 2. Play began on August 12, 2012, and ended on November 25, 2012. The 18 winners from round 1 were joined by the 14 players who had received round 1 byes.

No.	Block	Sente	Gote	No. of moves	Date	Guest Analyst
1	A	Kenjirō Abe 5d	Takeshi Fujii 9d	94	August 12, 2012	Kazuyoshi Nishimura 9d
2	B	Akira Watanabe Ryūō	Kōichi Fukaura 9d	87	August 19, 2012	Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d
3	B	Daisuke Suzuki 8d	Kōji Tanigawa 9d	89	August 26, 2012	Masataka Sugimoto 7d
4	A	Hisashi Namekata 8d	Toshiaki Kubo 9d	131	September 2, 2012	Masahiko Urano 7d
5	A	Kōru Abe 4d	Masataka Gōda Kiō	94	September 9, 2012	Yasumitsu Satō ōshō
6	B	Masayuki Toyoshima 7d	Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d	130	September 16, 2012	Akira Inaba 6d
7	B	Taichi Nakamura 6d	Ayumu Matsuo 7d	117	September 23, 2012	Kazuki Kimura 8d
8	B	Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d	Hirotaka Nozuki 7d	87	September 30, 2012	Makoto Chūza 7d
9	A	Kazuki Kimura 8d	Takuya Nagase 5d	87	October 7, 2012	Akihito Hirose 7d
10	B	Amahiko Satō 7d	Yasumitsu Satō ōshō	115	October 14, 2012	Manabu Senzaki 8d
11	B	Michio Takahashi 9d	Akira Shima 9d	95	October 21, 2012	Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin
12	A	Takanori Hashimoto 8d	Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup	134	October 28, 2012	Chikara Akutsu 7d
13	B	Akira Inaba 6d	Tadahisa Maruyama 9d	179	November 4, 2012	Keita Inoue 9d
14	A	Hiroyuki Miura 8d	Masataka Sugimoto 7d	157	November 11, 2012	Daisuke Suzuki 8d
15	A	Takayuki Yamasaki 7d	Hiroki Nakata 8d	123	November 18, 2012	Michio Takahashi 9d
16	A	Chikara Akutsu 7d	Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin	106	November 25, 2012	Yasumitsu Satō ōshō

Round 3

Play began on December 2, 2012, and ended on January 27, 2013. Out of the 18 preliminary tournament winners, only Akira Inaba 6d made it as far as round 3.

No.	Block	Sente	Gote	No. of moves	Date	Guest Analyst
1	A	Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup	Takayuki Yamasaki 7d	85	December 2, 2012	Taku Morishita 9d
2	B	Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d	Mamoru Hatakeyama 7d	119	December 9, 2012	Hiroyuki Miura 8d
3	B	Amahiko Satō 7d	Akira Inaba 6d	123	December 16, 2012	Taichi Nakamura 6d
4	A	Hiroyuki Miura 8d	Kazuki Kimura 8d	117	December 23, 2012	Hirotaka Nozuki 7d
5	B	Michio Takahashi 9d	Daisuke Suzuki 8d	100	January 6, 2013	Takeshi Fujii 9d
6	B	Taichi Nakamura 6d	Akira Watanabe Ryūō	136	January 13, 2013	Yasuaki Murayama 6d
7	A	Takeshi Fujii 9d	Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin	102	January 20, 2013	Kōichi Fukaura 9d
8	A	Hisashi Namekata 8d	Masataka Gōda Kiō	122	January 27, 2013	Takanori Hashimoto 8d

Quarterfinals

The eight remaining players were paired off against each other with play beginning on February 3 and ending on February 24, 2013. Four major titleholders (Watanabe, Moriuchi, Habu, and Gōda) as well as four former NHK Cup Champions (Habu, Moriuchi, Miura, and Suzuki) made it as far as the quarterfinals.

No.	Block	Sente	Gote	No. of moves	Date	Guest Analyst
1	A	Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup	Toshiyuki Moriuchi Meijin	107	February 3, 2013	Akira Shima 9d
2	B	Akira Watanabe Ryūō	Amahiko Satō 7d	81	February 10, 2013	Chikara Akutsu 7d
3	B	Nobuyuki Yashiki 9d	Daisuke Suzuki 8d	142	February 17, 2013	Toshiaki Kubo 9d
4	A	Hiroyuki Miura 8d	Masataka Gōda Kiō	100	February 24, 2013	Tadahisa Maruyama 9d

Semifinals

The two remaining players from each block with paired against each other to determine the respective block winners. The 1st semifinal game between Daisuke Suzuki 8d (sente) and Akira Watanabe Ryūō (gote) was broadcast on March 3, 2013. Watanabe won the game in 122 moves. The guest analyst was Taku Morishita 9d. The 2nd semifinal game was between Masataka Gōda Kiō (sente) and Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup (gote). The game was broadcast on March 10, 2013, and won by Habu in 116 moves. The guest analyst was Manabu Senzaki 8d.

Finals

62nd NHK Cup Final
(109. P-83+)
Gote: Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup

☖ pieces in hand: 歩(2)

9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
								香	1
	飛		王	歩		金	歩		2
香	と	歩	歩		金	桂		歩	3
歩			桂	歩	歩	銀	歩		4
			桂	飛		歩			5
歩			銀	角	歩			歩	6
	歩	桂	金		銀	馬			7
		金							8
香		玉						香	9

☗ pieces in hand: 銀 歩

Sente: Akira Watanabe Ryūō

After 109 preliminary tournament games and 48 main tournament games involving 160 players, Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup and Akira Watanabe Ryūō met in the final which was broadcast on March 17, 2013. Habu had won the tournament the previous four years and was on 24 NHK Cup game winning streak; Watanabe, on the other hand, was looking for his first NHK Cup championship and also to avoid losing to Habu in the finals for the second year in a row. The piece toss before the game resulted in Watanabe being sente and he won the game in 109 moves, thus becoming the 62nd NHK Cup Champion. The guest analyst for the final match were Takeshi Fujii 9 dan and the hosts were NHK announcer Nobuhiro Hori and female professional Rieko Yauchi. A radio broadcast of the final aired on May 3, 2013. The host was NHK announcer Taiga Sekiguchi and the guest analysts were Akira Shima 9d, Kazuki Kimura 8d and Takanori Hashimoto 8d.

The game score and a diagram showing the final position is given below.
Sente: Akira Watanabe Ryūō
Gote: Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup
Opening: Fortress
1.P-76 P-34, 2. P-26 P-44, 3. P-25 B-33, 4. S-38 P-84, 5. S-78 P-85, 6. S-77 S-22, 7. P-56 B-42, 8. B-79 S-33, 9. G-78 G-32, 10. K-69 P-54, 11. P-36 G-52, 12 S-37 G52-43, 13. P-35 B-64, 14. Px34 Sx34, 15. P-46 K-41, 16. P-24 Px24, 17. Rx24 K-31, 18. R-28 P*34, 19. B-68 N-33, 20. K-79 S-62, 21. K-88 P-73, 22. P-66 P-75, 23. Px75 Bx75, 24. P*76 B-64, 25. G-58 S-73, 26. G58-67 S-34, 27. P*36 Px36, 28. Sx36 P*35, 29. S-47 N-73, 30. N-37 P-94, 31. P*24 P*22, 32. P-96 L-93, 33. B-57 R-92, 34. P-16 B-53, 35. P-65 Sx65, 36. B-84 P*72, 37. P-55 Px55, 38. P*52 K-42, 39. S-66 S-74, 40. P-51+ P-86, 41. Px86 Kx51, 42. R-58 P*87, 43. K-79 S-83, 44. B-75 Bx75, 45. Px75 B*27, 46. P*54 B-49+, 47. Rx55 P*52, 48. P-74 +B-48, 49. B*56 R-82, 50. Px73+ Px73, 51. N*65 K-62, 52. N-77 S-84, 53. P-85 +Bx37, 54. Px84 N*64, 55. P-83+, Gote resigns (diagram)

The final tournament bracket is shown below.

62nd NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament bracket (final)

Other

• Sente won 26 (a little more than 53%) of the 49 games.
• The average number of moves per main tournament game was 112. The most moves played in a single game was 184 (Rd. 1, Chiba 6d vs. Suzuki 8d) while the fewest moves played was 67 (Rd. 1, Nagase 4d vs. Kamiya 7d).
• There were no replays resulting from repetition (千日手, sennichite) or impasse (持将棋, jishōgi), and there were no disqualifications due to illegal moves or time forfeits.
• The age breakdown (age at start of the tournament) for the players who qualified was as follows: 10–19 years old, 3 players; 20–29 years old, 10 players; 30–39 years old, 19 players; 40–49 years old, 16 players; 50–59 years old, 2 players. The oldest player was Michio Takahashi 9d (51 years old) and the youngest player was Kōru Abe 4d (17 years old).

See also

• 61st NHK Cup (shogi)
• 63rd NHK Cup (shogi)
• 64th NHK Cup (shogi)