In November, the winners of the East Japan preliminary and the West Japan preliminary play the best of three games for gaining the qualification of the challenge, and the winner becomes the challenger of the championship match of the Meijin-sen.
11月に東日本予選・西日本予選の勝者が挑戦者決定戦の3番勝負を行い、勝者が名人位決定戦の挑戦者となる。