63rd NHK Cup (shogi)

The 63rd NHK Cup, or as it is officially known the 63rd NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament (第63回NHK杯テレビ将棋トーナメント, dairokujūsankai 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 Masataka Gōda.

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

The initial time control for each player was 20 minutes followed by a 30-second byōyomi.

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

If, however, they did not, a thinking time period began and they then had up to one minute (more specifically 59 seconds) to make a move before entering the next thinking time period.

This process was repeated until a player had used all ten thinking time periods when the final byōyomi time control of 30 seconds per move began.

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

The 50 players listed below qualified for the main tournament.

Notes: The bracket at the start of the tournament is shown below.

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

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

Out of the 18 preliminary tournament winners, only the following four made it to round 3: Kanai 5d, Nishikawa 4d, Takazaki 6d and Funae 5d The eight remaining players were paired off against each other with play beginning on February 2 and ending on February 23, 2014.

Only one major titleholder, Moriuchi 2 crown, made it as far as the quarterfinals.

The 1st semifinal game between Kazuhiro Nishikawa 4d (sente) and Masataka Gōda 9d (gote) was broadcast on March 2, 2014.

Gōda won the game in 128 moves, thus stopping Nishikawa's NHK Cup winning streak at six.

The 2nd semifinal game was between Tadashi Ōishi 6d (sente) and Tadahisa Maruyama 9d (gote).

The game was broadcast on March 9, 2014, and won by Maruyama in 104 moves.

After 112 preliminary tournament games and 48 main tournament games involving 162 players, Tadashisa Maruyama 9d and Masataka Gōda 9d met in the final broadcast on March 23, 2014.

This was the second NHK Cup final appearance for both players: Maruyama defeated Akira Watanabe to win the 55th NHK Cup (2005) and Gōda was runner-up to Daisuke Suzuki in the 49th NHK Cup (1999).

The piece toss before the game resulted in Maruyama being sente.

Gōda won the game in 82 moves, thus winning the tournament for the first time and becoming the 63rd NHK Cup Champion.

[6] The guest analysts for the final match were Toshiyuki Moriuchi 2-crown and Keita Inoue 9d and the hosts of the final were NHK announcer Ryō Nagano [ja] and women's professional Rieko Yauchi.

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

[7] Sente: Tadahisa Maruyama 9d Gote: Masataka Gōda 9d Opening: Yokufudori 1.

Sx7g+, sente resigns (diagram) The final tournament bracket is shown below.