Judan

Established in 1962 by the Sankei Shimbun newspaper, the Judan ("Tenth Dan") is the fourth-oldest of Japan's seven major titles, with a winner's prize of approximately 14 million yen. Its name evokes the pinnacle of Go rank -- historically, 9-dan was the highest official grade, so "Tenth Dan" symbolically places the champion beyond even that ceiling. The Judan stands out for its unusual double-elimination preliminary format: a player who loses in the winners' bracket drops to a losers' bracket rather than being eliminated, and the two bracket winners face off to determine who challenges the defending champion in a best-of-five title match.

Country Japan Type Title Match Format Knockout Title Cycle 1y Komi 6.5 Editions 65

2011 · Edition #49

Champion: Iyama Yuta · Runner-up: Cho U

Winners' Section, Semi-final 2 games

Aug 12 Ko Iso W+R Iyama Yuta Sep 4 Anzai Nobuaki W+R Yamashita Keigo

Winners' Section Final 1 game

Sep 27 Iyama Yuta B+0.5 Yamashita Keigo

Losers' Section, Semi-final 2 games

Nov 4 Cho Chikun W+R Ko Iso Dec 16 Yamashita Keigo W+R Takao Shinji

Losers' Section Final 1 game

Jan 20 Ko Iso W+R Takao Shinji

Final Preliminary, Round 1 7 games

Mar 11 Yoda Norimoto W+6.5 Yamashiro Hiroshi Mar 18 Tsuruyama Atsushi B+R Kobayashi Satoru Mar 18 Kobayashi Koichi W+4.5 Nakamura Shinya Mar 25 Ishida Atsushi W+R Yamada Kimio Mar 25 Iyama Yuta B+1.5 Mochizuki Kenichi Mar 25 Rin Kanketsu W+0.5 Kono Rin Apr 1 Chin Kaei B+R O Meien

Final Preliminary, Group Final 3 games

Apr 8 Murakawa Daisuke W+R Iyama Yuta May 13 Kono Rin B+2.5 Oya Koichi May 27 Nakamura Shinya W+R Sakai Hideyuki

Final 5 games

Mar 3 Cho U B+R Iyama Yuta Mar 24 Iyama Yuta B+R Cho U Apr 7 Cho U B+R Iyama Yuta Apr 22 Iyama Yuta B+3.5 Cho U Apr 29 Iyama Yuta B+R Cho U

Challengers' Final 1 game

Feb 10 Takao Shinji W+R Iyama Yuta

Losers' Section, Round 3 3 games

Oct 14 Ko Iso B+2.5 Anzai Nobuaki Oct 14 Hane Naoki W+2.5 Cho Chikun Oct 28 Akiyama Jiro W+R Takao Shinji

Winners' Section, Round 2 3 games

Jul 22 Hane Naoki W+R Iyama Yuta Jul 29 Yamashita Keigo B+R Li Yixiu Aug 12 Cho Chikun W+R Anzai Nobuaki

Losers' Section, Round 2 4 games

Aug 19 Takao Shinji B+4.5 Kono Rin Aug 26 So Yokoku W+0.5 Hane Naoki Sep 2 Cho Chikun B+R Li Yixiu Sep 16 Akiyama Jiro B+0.5 Sakai Hideyuki

Winners' Section, Round 1 8 games

May 20 Hane Naoki B+5.5 Yamashiro Hiroshi May 20 Takao Shinji W+R So Yokoku May 27 Ko Iso B+R Kurahashi Masayuki Jun 3 Shuto Shun W+3.5 Anzai Nobuaki Jun 3 Yamashita Keigo B+R Sakai Hideyuki Jun 17 Akiyama Jiro W+8.5 Cho Chikun Jun 17 O Rissei W+R Li Yixiu Jul 1 Iyama Yuta B+R Kono Rin

Losers' Section, Round 1 4 games

Jul 8 Takao Shinji B+R Kurahashi Masayuki Jul 29 Akiyama Jiro B+0.5 Shuto Shun Aug 5 Kono Rin B+R Yamashiro Hiroshi Aug 9 Sakai Hideyuki B+0.5 O Rissei