The Agon Cup is a Go competition.

Biography

The Agon Cup is a Go competition used by the Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 Nihon Kiin. It was started in 1994 by Agon Shu

Agon Shu

Agon Shu is a Buddhist organization based on Agama Sutras which Shakyamuni Buddha originally taught to his disciples. Its main center is in Kyoto- Agon Buddhism is described as the "Original Buddhism." :...

. The name was originally the "Acom Cup" but it changed its sponsor in 1999 and became the Agon Cup. It is a single knockout

Knockout

A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...

 tournament, but unlike the big titles in Japan, the title holder does not wait for a challenger, hence the difficulty of defending the title. The prize for the winner is 10,000,000 Yen ($86,000).

Past winners

Player	Years Held
O Rissei O Rissei Ō Rissei is a professional Go player in Japan.- Biography :Rissei was born in Taiwan and moved to Japan when he was 13 years old; he would become professional the following year. His instructor is Kano Yoshinori.- Titles and runners-up :Ranks #10-t in total amount of titles in Japan.-External...	1994
Kato Masao	1995, 1996, 2003
Yoda Norimoto	1997
Kobayashi Satoru	1998
Kobayashi Koichi	1999
Cho Sonjin Cho Sonjin Cho Sonjin is a professional Go player.Cho spent 12 years in South Korea before deciding to leave and become a professional in Japan, accomplishing his goal two years later. He was promoted to 9 dan in 1998. In 1999, he defeated Cho Chikun in the Honinbo, ending Chikun's 10 year run with the...	2000, 2001
Cho Chikun Cho Chikun Cho Chihun 25th Honinbo Honorary Meijin is a professional Go player. His total title tally of 71 titles is the most in the history of the Japanese Nihon Ki-in. Cho is the only player to hold the top three titles—Kisei, Meijin, and Honinbo—simultaneously which he did for 3 years in a row...	2002
Hane Naoki	2004, 2009
Iyama Yuta	2005
Cho U Cho U Cho U Kisei, Oza is a professional Go player. He currently ranks 6th in the most titles won by a Japanese professional; his NEC Cup win in 2011 put him past his teacher Rin Kaiho and Norimoto Yoda. Cho is the only player in history to have held five of the top seven major titles...	2006-2008

See also

• Go competitions
• International Go Federation
  International Go Federation
  The International Go Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Go federations around the world. It is usually referred to as IGF.-Role of the IGF:...
  
  
• List of professional Go tournaments