Tengen is the name of a Go competition in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

The name Tengen refers to the center point on a Go

Go (board game)

Go , is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago...

 board.

The event is held annually, and has run continuously since its inauguration in 1975.

Tengen Competition (天元戦)

The Tengen competition is a Go tournament run by the Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 Nihon-Kiin and Kansai-Kiin. The Tengen is the 5th of the 7 big titles in Japanese Go.

It has the same format as the other tournaments. There is a preliminary tournament, which is single knockout

Knockout

A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...

, where the winner faces the holder in a best-of-five match.

Before the 6th Tengen, the format was different. Instead of the title holder waiting for a challenger, it would be the two Go players

Go players

This page gives an overview of well-known players of the game of Go throughout the ages. The page has been divided into sections based on the era in which the Go players played and the country in which they played. As this was not necessarily their country of birth, a flag of that country precedes...

 left from the single knockout tournament who then played a best-of-five match to determine the holder.

Winners

Player	Years Held
Fujisawa Hideyuki	1975
Kobayashi Koichi	1976, 1985, 1986, 1998, 1999
Shimamura Toshiohiro	1977
Kato Masao	1978 - 1981
Kataoka Satoshi	1982, 1983
Ishida Yoshio	1984
Cho Chikun Cho Chikun Cho Chihun 25th Honinbo Honorary Meijin is a professional Go player. His total title tally of 71 titles is the most in the history of the Japanese Nihon Ki-in. Cho is the only player to hold the top three titles—Kisei, Meijin, and Honinbo—simultaneously which he did for 3 years in a row...	1987, 1988
Rin Kaiho Rin Kaiho Rin Kaiho is a professional Go player.-Biography:Rin Kaiho was born in Shanghai, China. He was a student of Go Seigen when Go brought him to Japan in 1952. He was a promising player who won his first title at the age of 23, the Meijin. He is also part of the 1200 win group...	1989 - 1993
Ryu Shikun Ryu Shikun Ryu Shikun in Seoul, South Korea, is a professional Go player.- Biography :Ryu Shikun is a Go player who grew up in Seoul. He did not move to Japan until he was 15, and just 2 years later he turned professional. He was promoted to 9 dan in 2003.- Titles & runners-up :-External Links:**...	1994 - 1996, 2000
Kudo Norio	1997
Hane Naoki	2001 - 2003
Yamashita Keigo	2004, 2009
Kono Rin	2005 - 2007
Cho U Cho U Cho U Kisei, Oza is a professional Go player. He currently ranks 6th in the most titles won by a Japanese professional; his NEC Cup win in 2011 put him past his teacher Rin Kaiho and Norimoto Yoda. Cho is the only player in history to have held five of the top seven major titles...	2008
Yuki Satoshi	2010

Trivia

• The first player to win the competition twice was Kato Masao, in the 7th Tengen. However, in 1999, Kobayashi Koichi reached a record 5 wins.

See also

• Honorary Tengen
• Go professional
  Go professional
  A Go professional is a professional player of the game of Go. The minimum standard to acquire a professional diploma through one of the major go organisations is very high. The competition is tremendous, and prize incentives for champion players are very large...
  
  
• China–Japan Tengen
• China–Korea Tengen
• International Go Federation
  International Go Federation
  The International Go Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Go federations around the world. It is usually referred to as IGF.-Role of the IGF:...