Hideyuki Sakai
# Hideyuki Sakai

Hideyuki Sakai (坂井秀至, Sakai Hideyuki, born April 23, 1973) is a professional Go player.

## Biography

Before becoming a professional, Sakai was majoring in medical science at Kyoto University. For a long time, Sakai was the strongest amateur player in Japan, and when he won the World Amateur Go Championship in 2000, the Kansai Ki-in awarded him professional 5 dan (after defeating two 5 dan and two 7 dan players). He was also the first player in Japan to be awarded a special 8 dan (amateur) diploma. In 2003, he won the biggest Kansai Ki-in tournament, the Kansai Ki-in Championship. In 2004, he was runner-up for the Shinjin-O title, losing to Mizokami Tomochika two games to one (losing both by half point). He is currently active in various tournament leagues for both the Nihon Ki-in (participation in Meijin league 2005–present) and the Kansai Ki-in.

In 2010, Sakai won the Gosei title, defeating title-holder Cho U 3–2.

## Titles and runners-up

Domestic :

| Title | Wins | Runners-up |
| - | - | - |
| Gosei | 1 (2010) | 1 (2011) |
| Shinjin-O | | 1 (2004) |
| Kansai Ki-in Championship | 4 (2003, 2011–2013) | 3 (2004, 2007, 2014) |
| Total | 5 | 5 |
