Imamura Toshiya 9-dan overcame close rival Hasegawa Sunao 9-dan to win the 44th Kansai Kiin First Place Championship in Osaka on 23 November 2000. By winning game 3 he made the final score 2-1, and increased his own tally to three championships.
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Older News From 11 November 2000: HASEGAWA PULLS BACK LEVEL
Hasegawa Sunao 9-dan drew level in the 44th Kansai Kiin First Place Championship in Osaka on 9 November 2000 when he defeated Imamura Toshiya 9-dan without counting. The score in this best-of-three is now 1-1.
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Older News From 30 October 2000: IMAMURA DRAWS FIRST BLOOD IN KANSAI KIIN'S PREMIER EVENT
Imamura Toshiya 9-dan forced Hasegawa Sunao 9-dan into an early resignation to take Game 1 of the 44th Kansai Kiin First Place Championship in Osaka on 25 October 2000. The final is a best-of-three.
Imamura is one of the younger 9-dans (he is 34) and one of the few who can hold his own with his Nihon Ki-in counterparts.
HOW DOES THE KANSAI KIIN FIRST PLACE CHAMPIONSHIP WORK?
The Kansai Kiin First Place Championship, sponsored by the San'yo Shinbun newspaper group, is the only major tournament exclusive to the Kansai Kiin. There used to be a Kansai Meijin (founded in 1957 and sponsored by Osaka Yomiuri Shinbun) and a Kansai Championship (founded 1955 and sponsored by Kobe Shinbun).
Like the Nihon Shogi Renmei, the Kansai Kiin is coy about revealing details of prize money, to avoid a distasteful comparison with the Nihon Ki-in.
The event is a knockout for all Kansai Kiin players, and culminates (since Term 9) in a best-of-three final (holder not seeded) , nowadays played from the end of October to the end of November.
