| Yuta Iyama | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Iyama in 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Yuta Iyama | |||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 井山裕太 | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1989-05-24)24 May 1989 (age 35) Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan | |||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Tokyo, Japan | |||||||||||||||||
| Teacher | Kunio Ishii | |||||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2002 | |||||||||||||||||
| Rank | 9 dan | |||||||||||||||||
| Affiliation | Nihon Ki-in, Kansai branch | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Yuta IyamaKisei,Honinbo,Meijin (井山 裕太,Iyama Yūta, born 24 May 1989) is a Japanese professionalGoplayer. In April 2016, he became the first player in Japanese history to hold all seven major titles simultaneously.[1] In January 2018, Iyama became the first professional Go player to be awarded Japan'sPeople's Honour Award.[2]
Born inOsaka, Iyama became the first professional of theHeisei period. He began playing Go at the age of five and reached the rank of 3 dan amateur a year later. It was at this timeKunio Ishii became Iyama's teacher, with the two playing thousands of games online.[3] He won the national elementary school championship twice, in 1997 and 1998.[1] Iyama became aninsei in October 1998 and challenged for a professional spot in 2001. He lost toKohei Kawada. The following year, he challenged again and passed the qualifying test. At the time, Iyama was the fourth youngest professional behindCho Chikun,Utaro Hashimoto andSatoshi Yuki.[3]
Iyama was promoted to 2 dan on 4 September 2002.[4] During theChina-Japan Agon Cup in 2002, Iyama played an unofficial match withChen Yaoye. Iyama lost the match by resignation.[5] In June 2003, Iyama was promoted to 3 dan for his performances in theOteai.[6] Nearly two years later, Iyama was promoted to 4 dan under the newly revised promotion rules.[7]
He met his rival,Daisuke Murakawa, a fellow player from theKansai region, in the final section of the 30thShinjin-O. Taking white, Iyama went on to win by 5.5 points.[8] Iyama won the first major game of his career when he defeatedCho U by resignation in the 20thAgon Cup.[9] He would go on to win the tournament, becoming the youngest title holder in Japanese history at 16 years and five months. The previous holder of the record wasCho Chikun, who won theShin-Ei, a tournament open to young players only, at 17 years. As a result of winning the tournament, Iyama was directly promoted to 7 dan and became the youngest 7 dan in Japanese Go.[10]
Before winning the Agon Cup, Iyama won the Nakano Cup, a privately sponsored unofficial tournament, and unsuccessfully challenged for theShinjin-O title, losing toKim Shushun.[11][12] Iyama was a member of the Japanese team at the 6th Asian New Star Match, where he won one match. Japan finished in third place behindSouth Korea andChina.[13] Iyama participated in theChina-Japan Agon Cup in 2006, losing toGu Li by resignation.[14]
Iyama won two awards for his performance during the 2005 season: the New Star award and an award for having the highest winning percentage (75.47%).[15] In August 2006, Iyama made it to the last game of the 61stHoninbo preliminary stage. FacingCho Sonjin (a former Honinbo), Iyama took black and lost by resignation. Had Iyama won, he would have been the youngest participant of the Honinbo league at 17 years.[16] Three months after his unsuccessful Honinbo league bid, Iyama participated in the first edition of theDaiwa Cup, an internet tournament. Iyama qualified for the main tournament, but was unable to challenge for the title.[17]
Iyama won his second official tournament when he defeatedKenichi Mochizuki in theShinjin-O final.[18] In September 2007, Iyama reached the challenger final of his first major title, theTengen. Taking black, Iyama lost toKeigo Yamashita by 1.5 points and was unable to challenge title-holderRin Kono.[19] Iyama qualified for his first international tournament, the 21stFujitsu Cup, by defeatingKanketsu Rin andMichihiro Morita in the preliminary stages.[20] In the main tournament, Iyama defeated Taiwanese representativeZhou Junxun, but lost to Korea'sLee Sedol in the second round.[21][22]
In March 2008, Iyama participated in the 1st Yugen Cup, a tournament pitting veteran professionals against newly promoted youngsters. He finished in 6th place, but won all six of his games.[23] Iyama reached the final round of the preliminary tournament for the 13thLG Cup, but was unable to make the final tournament. No other Japanese players qualified.[24]
Two months later, in July 2008, Iyama won the 33rdMeijin league. At the age of 19, Iyama became the youngest ever challenger for the Meijin title and the youngest challenger for any of the major titles. He broke a record held by Cho Chikun, who challenged for theOza title in 1976 at the age of 20 years. As a result of winning the league, Iyama was directly promoted to 8 dan.[25] Iyama's title bid was unsuccessful as he lost in seven games to title-holderCho U.[26]
A few days after earning the right to challenge for the 33rd Meijin, Iyama defeated Cho U in the final of the 1stDaiwa Cup Grand Champion, an internet tournament for winners of the other Daiwa Cup tournaments.[27] Iyama was also a part of the Japanese team at the 1stWorld Mind Sports Games.[28] While challenging for the Meijin title, Iyama faced Cho U again, this time in theOza challenger final. Iyama took black and lost by resignation.[29]
A month later, in October 2008, Iyama reached another challenger final. He facedNorimoto Yoda in the challenger final of the 33rdKisei and lost by resignation.[30] In March 2008, Iyama participated in the inauguralBC Card Cup as one of Japan's two representatives, Cho Chikun being the other. Chikun was knocked out in the first round byPaek Hongsuk, but Iyama won two games in a row againstKim Seongjae andOn Sojin. Iyama came up againstCho Hanseung in the third round and was eliminated by the Korean representative.[31]
That same month Iyama participated in two unofficial tournaments, the Yugen Cup, which he won, and the RICOH Rengo Cup. Iyama and partnerXie Yimin lost toNaoki Hane andKeiko Kato in the final of the Rengo Cup.[32][33] Iyama also won the Kido "Outstanding Player" award for his performances during the 2008 season.[34]
Iyama was one of four Japanese participants at the 14th LG Cup, where he won his first game againstYun Junsang and lost his second game againstLee Chang-ho.[35] Iyama also reached the challenger final of the 34thGosei, but eventually lost toSatoshi Yuki by 1.5 points.[36]
After losing the Meijin the previous year, Iyama won the Meijin league again in July 2009 and earned the right to challenge Cho U.[37] He went undefeated in the league, becoming the fourth player in the modern-era to go undefeated in the Meijin league.[38] Two months later Iyama qualified for his firstHoninbo league.[39]
Iyama lost the first game of his Meijin challenge, but then went on to win four in-a-row. As a result, Iyama broke three records: youngest major title winner, youngest Meijin and youngest 9 dan, breaking records set by Cho Chikun,Rin Kaiho and his opponent in the Meijin finals, Cho U.[40] Iyama also won theRyusei title, televised on the date of the final Meijin match.[41]
In December 2009, Iyama participated in his firstNongshim Cup. He was the third Japanese player and lost his game toXie He, who won five straight games before losing to Naoki Hane.[42] Iyama led the Japanese most wins list in 2009 with a record of 43 wins and 14 losses.[43] Iyama was also awarded the Shusai Prize for his performances during the 2009 season.[44] In February 2010, Iyama lost the final of the 5thDaiwa Cup to Rin Kono.[45]
In May, Iyama reached the challenger final for the 65th Honinbo, but lost to Keigo Yamashita.[46] As a result, for finishing runner-up of theNHK Cup in 2010, Iyama was qualified for the 22ndAsian TV Cup. He lost to Lee Chang-ho in the first round.[47] Iyama was also a representative of the Japanese team at the 16thAsian Games.[48] In October 2010, Iyama was invited to theWorld Meijin tournament along with Gu Li and Lee Chang-ho. Iyama finished in third place.[49] Iyama then defended his Meijin title in straight wins againstShinji Takao.[50]
In 2010, Iyama won the third most prize money in Japan with 56,482,000Yen.[51] He unsuccessfully challenged Cho U for the Kisei title in 2011.[52] Iyama won his second major title, theJudan, in 2011.
In January 2017, Iyama was awarded the Shusai Prize, which honors the outstanding player of the previous year. It was his fifth consecutive Shusai Prize. In February 2017, Iyama was awarded the Kido Prize for "Most outstanding player" for winning all top seven titles.[53]
Iyama is scheduled to play in the 2017 World Go Championship.[54]
| Rank | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 dan | 2002 | |
| 2 dan | 2002 | |
| 3 dan | 2003 | |
| 4 dan | 2004 | Promoted from 3 to 4 dan for leading the prize-money list among 3 dan professionals.[7] |
| 5 dan | ||
| 6 dan | ||
| 7 dan | 2005 | Promoted from 4 to 7 dan for winning the 12thAgon Cup.[10] |
| 8 dan | 2008 | Promoted from 7 to 8 dan for challenging for the 33rdMeijin.[25] |
| 9 dan | 2009 | Promoted from 8 to 9 dan for defeatingCho U to win the 34th Meijin.[55] |
| Year | Won | Lost | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 34 | 14 | 70.8% |
| 2007 | 44 | 11 | 80.0% |
| 2008 | 48 | 21 | 69.6% |
| 2009 | 43 | 14 | 75.4% |
| 2010 | 34 | 21 | 61.8% |
| 2011 | 48 | 19 | 71.6% |
| 2012 | 51 | 12 | 81.0% |
| 2013 | 43 | 18 | 70.5% |
| 2014 | 31 | 19 | 62.0% |
| 2015 | 42 | 11 | 79.2% |
| 2016 | 34 | 10 | 77.3% |
| 2017 | 42 | 10 | 80.8% |
| 2018 | 35 | 27 | 56.5% |
| 2019 | 12 | 12 | 50.0% |
| Total | 541 | 219 | 71.2% |
| Domestic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Wins | Runners-up |
| Kisei | 9 (2013–2021) | 4 (2011, 2022, 2024, 2025) |
| Meijin | 8 (2009, 2010, 2013–2015, 2017, 2020, 2021) | 6 (2008, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2023) |
| Honinbo | 11 (2012[57]–2022) | 1 (2023) |
| Tengen | 8 (2011–2013, 2015–2019) | 2 (2014, 2020) |
| Oza | 10 (2012,[58] 2013, 2015–2018, 2021-2024) | 2 (2014, 2019) |
| Gosei | 10 (2012[59]–2017, 2021-2024) | 1 (2018) |
| Judan | 6 (2011, 2012, 2016–2018, 2024) | 2 (2013, 2019) |
| Agon Cup | 5 (2005, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2020) | 3 (2021, 2022, 2023) |
| Ryusei | 5 (2009, 2011, 2012, 2022, 2023) | 2 (2020, 2024) |
| NHK Cup | 3 (2017, 2018, 2020) | 4 (2010, 2013, 2019, 2025) |
| Shinjin-O | 1 (2007) | 1 (2005) |
| Daiwa Cup | 2 (2010, 2012) | 2 (2007, 2009) |
| Daiwa Cup Grand Champion | 2 (2008, 2009) | |
| Total | 80 | 30 |
| Continental | ||
| Bosai Cup | 1 (2011) | |
| China-Japan Agon Cup | 1 (2015) | 2 (2005, 2014) |
| World Mingren | 1 (2015) | |
| Total | 2 | 3 |
| International | ||
| Asian TV Cup | 1 (2013) | |
| LG Cup | 1 (2017) | |
| Total | 1 | 1 |
| Career total | ||
| Total | 83 | 34 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
