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.

The 50-player single elimination tournament was won by Akira Watanabe.

The host (司会者, shikaisha) during the NHK-E broadcasts was female professional Rieko Yauchi.

The first time control for main tournament games was ten minutes per player.

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.

[3] Sente was determined prior to each game by piece toss.

"Guest Analyst" refers to the kishi who provided commentary during the broadcast.

The 18 preliminary tournament winners were paired against 18 seeded players.

Out of the 18 preliminary tournament winners, only Akira Inaba 6d made it as far as round 3.

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.

The 1st semifinal game between Daisuke Suzuki 8d (sente) and Akira Watanabe Ryūō (gote) was broadcast on March 3, 2013.

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.

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.

[5] The guest analyst for the final match were Takeshi Fujii 9 dan and the hosts were NHK announcer Nobuhiro Hori [ja] and female professional Rieko Yauchi.

The host was NHK announcer Taiga Sekiguchi [ja] and the guest analysts were Akira Shima 9d, Kazuki Kimura 8d and Takanori Hashimoto 8d.

[6] The game score and a diagram showing the final position is given below.

[7] Sente: Akira Watanabe Ryūō Gote: Yoshiharu Habu NHK Cup Opening: Fortress 1.P-76 P-34, 2.

P-83+, Gote resigns (diagram) The final tournament bracket is shown below.