KANAGAWA –
Sota Fujii efficiently defended his Oi title for a seventh consecutive yr after defeating fellow 24-year-old Takumi Ito in Game 6 of the best-of-seven sequence, successful the match 4-2.
The sixth recreation of the Oi Championship started on September 8 at Motoyu Jinya in Hadano, Kanagawa Prefecture, with Fujii, who presently holds six main titles, needing yet another victory to retain the crown in opposition to Ito, a two-title holder from the identical faculty yr.
Play resumed on September 9 after Fujii’s sealed transfer from the day gone by was opened.
Following an intense battle, Fujii secured victory after 140 strikes, giving him 4 wins in opposition to Ito’s two and finishing his seventh consecutive Oi title protection.
Fujii’s subsequent title match would be the best-of-seven Ryuo Championship, which begins on October 9.
Japan’s skilled shogi system is constructed round eight main title championships, every held yearly. Unlike a traditional knockout event through which the reigning champion enters alongside everybody else, most title competitions separate the defending titleholder from the qualification course of. Professional gamers spend a lot of the yr competing in preliminary tournaments or leagues to find out a single challenger, who then faces the reigning champion in a best-of-five or best-of-seven title match.
This construction signifies that a participant reminiscent of Sota Fujii doesn’t need to win the whole Oi qualifying competitors yearly. As the reigning Oi, he waits for the qualification course of to provide a challenger. The two gamers then contest the championship itself, with the winner turning into or remaining Oi.
The Oi Championship dates to 1960, when Yasuharu Oyama defeated Masao Tsukada 4-1 to develop into the inaugural Oi. Oyama, one of many dominant figures in postwar shogi, went on to play a central function in establishing the status of the competitors throughout its early years.
The Oi title match is a best-of-seven contest, that means the primary participant to win 4 video games takes the championship. It is historically performed throughout the summer season, with video games staged at resorts, conventional inns and different outstanding venues round Japan.
Each championship recreation is performed over two days. Unlike shorter skilled video games, the gamers obtain substantial pondering time, permitting extraordinarily deep preparation and evaluation. At the tip of the primary day’s play, the participant whose flip it’s information the following transfer with out revealing it to the opponent. The transfer is sealed and stored safe in a single day.
On the morning of the second day, the envelope is opened and the sealed transfer is performed on the board. Play then continues till one participant resigns or the sport in any other case reaches a conclusion. This explains the reference to Fujii’s “sealed move” being opened earlier than play resumed on September 9.
The two-day system is likely one of the defining traditions of the most important long-form shogi championships. Players should handle not solely the place on the board but in addition their restricted pondering time over two days, deciding when a place warrants spending an hour or extra on a single transfer and when a faster resolution is important.
A seven-game championship doesn’t essentially require all seven video games. Once both participant reaches 4 victories, the sequence ends. Fujii’s September 9 victory subsequently ended the 2026 Oi Championship after Game 6 as a result of he had established an unbeatable 4-2 lead.
Fujii’s seven consecutive Oi championships imply he has retained the title yearly since first successful it. Consecutive defenses are notably important in shogi as a result of yearly brings a brand new qualification cycle and a brand new challenger who has already survived months of competitors in opposition to different main professionals.
The Ryuo Championship that follows is one other best-of-seven competitors, however its path to choosing a challenger is significantly extra elaborate.
Established in 1987, the Ryuo Championship developed from the sooner Judan, or Tenth Dan, competitors, which itself had roots in tournaments organized by the Yomiuri Shimbun after World War II. The Japan Shogi Association describes the Ryuo as one of many highest-ranking titles in skilled shogi, and its prize cash is the biggest amongst Japan’s skilled shogi competitions.
The competitors is uncommon as a result of it operates its personal six-division rating system.
Virtually the whole skilled area participates, along with a restricted variety of girls’s professionals, an apprentice participant from the skilled coaching system and chosen amateurs. Participants are divided into Groups 1 by way of 6. Group 1 incorporates the strongest performers throughout the Ryuo system, whereas gamers can rise or fall between teams relying on their outcomes.
Each group holds its personal rating event. Success can subsequently have two penalties: a participant can transfer upward within the Ryuo rankings and, if the result’s robust sufficient, earn a spot within the last event that determines the challenger.
The last challenger event consists of 11 gamers. Group 1 receives 5 locations, Group 2 receives two, whereas the winners of Groups 3, 4, 5 and 6 obtain one place every. This provides gamers from each stage a theoretical path to the title whereas giving a considerable benefit to those that have already established themselves within the increased teams.
The construction additionally creates the opportunity of a dramatic run by a lower-ranked participant. A participant who begins in Group 6 can win that group, enter the ultimate event, defeat higher-ranked opponents and ultimately earn the precise to problem the reigning Ryuo.
The last stage of the challenger event culminates in a best-of-three challenger-deciding match. The winner earns the precise to face the reigning Ryuo within the championship sequence.
The Ryuo title match is then performed as a best-of-seven sequence, with 4 victories required to win the championship. Each participant receives eight hours of pondering time per recreation, and the video games are performed over two days utilizing the identical sealed-move custom seen within the Oi Championship.
The Ryuo sequence usually takes place from October by way of December, with video games staged at totally different areas round Japan. The altering venues have develop into a part of the spectacle of main shogi title matches, with temples, historic buildings, luxurious resorts and conventional inns steadily serving as settings.
The 2026 Ryuo Championship begins on October 9 and is scheduled for as many as seven video games by way of December 17 if the sequence reaches a deciding Game 7. Fujii will defend the title in opposition to Shinichiro Hattori, with the opening recreation scheduled for October 9 and October 10 on the Cerulean Tower Noh Theatre in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward.
The Ryuo additionally has an unusually essential relationship with skilled rating and promotion. Strong performances within the competitors can contribute on to a participant’s promotion by way of the skilled dan ranks. For instance, difficult for the Ryuo title or reaching Group 1 can qualify a participant for promotion to seventh dan, whereas successful the Ryuo title can fulfill one of many situations for promotion to eighth dan. Winning the title twice is one path to ninth dan, the best common skilled rank.
The event’s trendy historical past started with the creation of the Ryuo title in 1987, however its lineage extends additional again. Yomiuri established the All-Japan Championship in 1948 and launched the Kudan, or Ninth Dan, title competitors in 1950. The occasion later grew to become the Judan Championship earlier than being reorganized and expanded into the Ryuo Championship in 1987.
The identify Ryuo means “Dragon King,” which can be the identify of the promoted rook in shogi. The title was created as a prestigious trendy championship able to standing alongside the historic Meijin title, whose roots stretch a lot additional again in Japanese shogi historical past.
For spectators unfamiliar with skilled shogi, the Oi and Ryuo competitions can subsequently be understood as two overlapping contests. One competitors takes place all year long amongst potential challengers, whereas the extremely seen title sequence on the finish pits the survivor of that course of in opposition to the reigning champion.
This system makes holding a number of titles concurrently terribly demanding. A participant reminiscent of Fujii should defend totally different championships at totally different occasions of the yr whereas additionally competing within the qualification phases of different competitions for titles he doesn’t presently maintain. Preparation for one title sequence can subsequently overlap with video games related to a different.
There are presently eight main skilled titles: Ryuo, Meijin, Oi, Oza, Kio, Osho, Kisei and Eio. Each has its personal qualifying construction, schedule and match format, however all observe the central precept {that a} challenger should emerge by way of competitors earlier than trying to take the title from its holder.
The result’s a championship system through which sustaining dominance could be as tough as reaching it. Every title should be defended once more the next yr in opposition to a challenger who has fought by way of a contemporary area of opponents, making lengthy consecutive title streaks reminiscent of Fujii’s seven-year Oi run one of many clearest measures of sustained supremacy in skilled shogi.
Source: CBC