General Sota Fujii successfully defends his title and achieves an unprecedented 20th consecutive title fight victory.

In the 4th game of the 73rd ALSOK Cup King's Tournament held on February 7th and 8th, 2024, Sota Fujii won by defeating his challenger, Tatsuya Sugai, 8-dan, in 121 moves. Fujii Osho had already won 3 games in the 7th match, so he decided to defend his title with a victory in this match. Osho Fujii is an eight-time champion who holds all eight major shogi titles, and since winning his first title, Kisei, in July 2020, he has won every title match. We have achieved ``20 consecutive title match wins'', surpassing the record of ` `19 consecutive title match wins '' by Master.

Sota Fujii VS Tatsuya Sugai 8-dan 73rd ALSOK Cup Osho Tournament 7th game 4th match Fujii Osho wins and defends | Shogi News | Japan Shogi Federation

King Sota Fujii wins 3rd consecutive title match and 20th consecutive title match victory over Oyama | Mainichi Shimbun
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20240208/k00/00m/040/174000c

[Osho match] Sota Fujii's 8th title 'overcomes Yasuharu Oyama' New title match record of 20 consecutive wins, V3 with 4 straight wins - Society: Nikkan Sports
https://www.nikkansports.com/general/nikkan/news/202402080000851.html

The challenger for the seventh match of the 73rd ALSOK Cup King's Tournament is Tatsuya Sugai, 8-dan, a swing rook user who is said to be under-appreciated in AI research. I have played against Osho Fujii 13 times in the past, with 9 wins for Fujii and 4 wins for Sugai.

The first round was held at Hotel Kagetsu in Otawara City, Tochigi Prefecture on January 7th and 8th, 2024, with Osho Fujii winning first. The second round will be held on January 20th and 21st at ``Taikoen'' in Miyaki District, Saga Prefecture, and the third round will be held on January 27th and 28th at ``Kokuminshukusha Sanbesou'' in Ota City, Shimane Prefecture. , Fujii Osho won both matches and was within reach of defending his title.

The fourth round was held at Auberge Tokito in Tachikawa City, Tokyo, and 8-dan Sugai used the same three-way rook as the first and second rounds. It was a fierce battle from the beginning. Fujii Osho fought strongly from the middle of the match and won with 121 moves.

As a result, Fujii Osho has won all the titles he has challenged since taking over Kiseisen in July 2020, while defending all the titles he holds, making him his 20th consecutive title match victory. In the past, the late Yasuharu Oyama, the 15th Meijin, won 19 consecutive title matches from the 22nd Meijin Tournament in 1963 to the 25th Meijin Tournament in 1966, which is the first record in about 40 years. .

Furthermore, Fujii Hakkan's match record in 2023 is 41 wins, 6 losses, and 1 Shogi game , with a winning percentage of 80%, 7/2 (.872). The previous highest winning percentage record was 85.55 (.855/47 wins, 8 losses), set in 1967 by Makoto Nakahara, 5th Dan (later known as the 16th Meijin). Fujii's eight crowns include the Asahi Cup Shogi Open Tournament , the NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament , and the Kioh Tournament Konami Group Cup .