Random titbit of information. Japanese 7 big titles in order from the most important to the least important:
Kisei 棋聖
Meijin 名人
Honinbo 本因坊
Ouza 王座
Tengen 天元
Gosei 碁聖
Juudan 十段
These determine the title of players. Normally players have no title and referred with their rank, for example, Nakamura Sumire 2p. If a player holds a title, they use their title as suffix because it’s cooler than rank, for example, Shibano Toramaru Ouza. If they have multiple titles then they use the one with higher priority, for example, Ichiriki Ryo has both Tengen and Gosei but Tengen is cooler so Ichiriki Ryo Tengen. But in the case of title match the title defender uses the title in question even if they have hold higher title too.
4 Likes
So we have Iyama Yuta Kisei, Shibano Toromaru Ouza, and Ichiriki Tengen, with no-one else having a big title?
Or have any of them changed hands yet this year?
bugcat
July 3, 2021, 10:15pm
4
I like historical tables, so here’s a historical table.
Professionals and their Big Seven etiquette titles
Player
Etiquette title
Sekiyama Riichi
Honinbo ('41)
Hashimoto Utaro
Honinbo ('43, '50-1), Oza ('53, '55-6), Judan ('62, '71)
Iwamoto Kauru
Honinbo ('45-7)
Takagawa Kaku
Honinbo ('52–'60), Judan ('65), Meijin ('68)
Shimamura Toshihiro
Oza ('57), Tengen ('77)
Fujisawa Hosai
Oza ('58), Judan ('64)
Hashimoto Shoji
Oza ('59), Judan ('74)
Handa Dogen
Oza ('60), Judan ('63), Oza ('65)
Sakata Eio
Honinbo ('61-2), Meijin ('63-4), Honinbo ('65-7), Judan ('68), Oza ('71-'72), Judan ('73)
Fujisawa Hideyuki
Meijin ('62), Oza ('67-9), Meijin ('70), Tengen ('75), Kisei ('77-'82)
Miyashita Shuyo
Oza ('62)
Rin Kaiho
Meijin ('65-7), Honinbo ('68), Meijin ('69), Honinbo ('70), Meijin ('70-'73), Judan ('75), Tengen ('89-93)
Otake Hideo
Judan ('69), Meijin ('75-6), Gosei ('80-5), Judan ('93-4)
Ishida Yoshio
Honinbo ('71-3), Meijin ('74), Honinbo ('75)
Takemiya Masaki
Honinbo ('76, '85-8), Judan ('90-2), Meijin ('95)
Cho Chikun
Oza ('76), Gosei ('79), Meijin ('80-2), Kisei ('83-5), Gosei ('86), Tengen ('87-8), Honinbo ('89-93), Kisei ('94), Honinbo ('95), Kisei ('96-9), Oza (2001), Judan (2005-7)
Kato Masao
Gosei ('76), Honinbo ('77-9), Tengen ('80-1), Oza ('82-9, '93), Honinbo (2002)
Kobayashi Koichi
Tengen ('76), Judan ('84-6), Kisei ('86-'93)
Kudo Norio
Oza ('77), Tengen ('97)
Kataoka Satoshi
Tengen ('82-3)
Hane Yasumasu
Tengen ('90)
Ryu Shikun
Tengen ('94-5), Oza ('96)
Kobayashi Satoru
Kisei ('95)
Yoda Norimoto
Judan ('95), Gosei ('96-8), Meijin (2000-3), Gosei (2004-5)
O Rissei
Oza ('98-9), Kisei (2000-2), Judan (2003-4)
Cho Sonjin
Honinbo ('99)
O Meien
Honinbo (2000-1)
Yamashita Keigo
Gosei (2000), Kisei (2003), Kisei (2006-9) Honinbo (2010), Meijin (2011-12)
Hane Naoki
Tengen (2001-3), Gosei (2011)
Cho U
Honinbo (2003), Meijin (2004-5), Kisei (2010-12), Meijin (2018)
Takao Shinji
Honinbo (2005-7), Tengen (2014)
Sakai Hideyuki
Gosei (2010)
Iyama Yuta
Honinbo (2012), Kisei (2013-2020)
Yuki Satoshi
Judan (2013)
Murakawa Daisuke
Oza (2014)
Ida Atsushi
Judan (2015)
Kyo Kagen
Gosei (2018)
Shibano Toromaru
Meijin (2019-20)
Ichiriki Ryo
Tengen (2020)
Tell me if you see any errors and I’ll fix them. There are almost definitely some omissions.
2 Likes
Cho Chikun’s titles take up 5 lines (on my phone screen anyway). That’s 2 lines more than anyone else. That’s because Cho is the Mac daddy!!
Groin
August 23, 2021, 4:32pm
6
If you ask yourself : “BUT why this tittle is better ?”
The answer is easy : money.
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