By Galo S Mirth
2010 was a year of strong title defenses by Yoshiharu Habu and Akira Watanabe, and it also produced a new champion: Akihito Hirose won his first major title by taking the Oi. Here is a quick, source-backed tour of the biggest professional and women’s shogi highlights of the year.
1. The major title matches (2010)
- Meijin (68th): Habu defended the title, defeating challenger Hiroyuki Miura 4-0.
- Kisei (81st): Habu defended, defeating Koichi Fukaura 3-0.
- Oi (51st): Akihito Hirose defeated Koichi Fukaura 4-2 to win his first major title.
- Oza (58th): Habu defended, defeating Takeshi Fujii 3-0.
- Ryu-o (23rd): Akira Watanabe defended, defeating Habu 4-2.
Between them, Habu and Watanabe again underlined a familiar storyline of the era: Habu’s breadth across multiple titles, and Watanabe’s continued dominance in the Ryu-o.
2. Notable events beyond the title matches
- Network events and quick formats: Toshiyuki Kubo won the 4th Daiwa Securities Cup Net Shogi Saikyo-sen.
- JT Shogi Japan Series: Habu won the 31st JT Cup, defeating Takayuki Yamasaki in the final.
- Shogi Awards (Shogi Taisho): the season’s awards highlighted top performers, including Habu and breakout champion Hirose.
3. Women’s shogi highlights
- Tomomi Kai won the 3rd MyNavi Women’s Open and also captured the 21st Women’s Oi title.
- Kana Satomi won the 32nd Women’s Osho title and defended the 18th Kurashiki Toka.
Sources (Japanese)
- Japanese Wikipedia: “2010年度の将棋界” (oldid 102461426): https://ja.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2010%E5%B9%B4%E5%BA%A6%E3%81%AE%E5%B0%86%E6%A3%8B%E7%95%8C&oldid=102461426
- 日本将棋連盟: 第68期名人戦・順位戦 七番勝負: https://www.shogi.or.jp/match/junni/2009/68a/7game.html
- 日本将棋連盟: 第81期棋聖戦: https://www.shogi.or.jp/match/kisei/81/5game.html
- 日本将棋連盟: 第51期王位戦: https://www.shogi.or.jp/match/oui/51/index.html
- 日本将棋連盟: 第58期王座戦: https://www.shogi.or.jp/match/ouza/58/index.html
- 日本将棋連盟: 第23期竜王戦: https://www.shogi.or.jp/match/ryuuou/23/index.html