The 3rd game of "Kiosen", one of the eight major shogi titles, was held in Niigata City.
Sota Fujii (20), who is the youngest ever to achieve the "six crowns", and Akira Watanabe (38), who is aiming for the 11th straight victory in the "Kioh Battle". Watanabe won the double crown and hoped to defend his title.
In the 5th match of the "Kioh Battle", Fujii has won 2 consecutive victories so far, and the 3rd game was held at a hotel in Niigata City on the 5th.
The game progressed at a good tempo at the beginning of the game, with Fujii five crowns on the front attacking aggressively and Watanabe two crowns on the back.
After that, the two sides turned to attacking each other while pondering for a long time, and towards the end of the game, Watanabe double crowns turned to attack and attacked the "opponent ball" that was outside their own half.
Then, both of them almost used up their time and entered "1 minute shogi" where one move is played in less than 60 seconds.
At 8:13 p.m., Fujii five crowns conceded with 174 moves after a heated battle where offense and defense were exchanged many times.
Watanabe double crown returned one win and hoped to defend the title.
On the other hand, the Fujii five crowns were the first game that they have lost only once this year (2022), but they suffered a loss.
Fujii has five titles: Ryuo, Throne, Eio, Osho, and Kisei. He became the second person to achieve the "six crowns" and also updated the youngest record for the first time in 29 years.
On the other hand, Watanabe double crown has been defending the title since winning the "Kiosen" for the first time 10 years ago, and this time it will take 11 consecutive victories.
The 4th station of the 5th match of the "Kioh Battle" will be held in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture on the 19th of this month.