Tengen (Go)
Tengen (天元, center or origin of heaven) is a Go competition in Japan.
The name Tengen refers to the center point on a Go 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 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, 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 left from the single knockout tournament who then played a best-of-five match to determine the holder.
Winners
Trivia
The first player to win the competition twice was Kato Masao, in the 7th Tengen. However, in 1993, Rin Kaiho reached a record 5 wins.
See also
Honorary Tengen
Go professional
China–Japan Tengen