The fourth game of the 46th Kiou Title series 5-game match ,where Itonai 8-dan was challenging Watanabe Kiou was held at Togo shrine in Tokyo on March 17 th.
Score was Watanabe Kiou three win, Itotani 8-dan one win.
Watanabe kiou defended oushou title on March14th, so he wanted to break his title records with momentum. On the other hand Itotani 8-dan lost two games in a row in Kiou title series, so he wanted to avoid losing streak.
Togo shrine worships Togo Heihachiro Mikoto. He is revered by various generations as the god of “Sincerity”, “Victory”, “Fortune”, and “Relationship”.This shrine was built by the wishes and property of the people to leave his honor and virtue “Sincerity reaches the god” to posterity. Many people visit this shrine from all over the world as well as Japan.This shrine is located at Harajuku in Shibuya Ward, midtown of Tokyo. It takes about 10 minutes’ walk from Tokyo Shogi Hall.
Sennte was Itotani 8-dan. Game form was bishop exchange. Watanabe kiou chose climbing silver and formed Yagura Castle. Itotani 8-dan chose reclining silver and sitting king and took the vanguard position on both edges. It was an unprecedented form. I thought that Watanebe kiou dominated all the game. Because Watanabe kiou`s defence formation was hard, Itotani 8-dan could not attack by using promoted bishop.
Watanabe Kiou won with 98 moves. He won kiou Titles for 9 consective years. He has won 28 titles , broke the record of Tanikawa 9-dan`s 27 title records and was ranked 4th in the number of titles won alone. He also has a Meijin Title and Meijin Title series starts at April 4th. Don`t miss the new history of Meijin Title series.
