The first year there were 16 players, and the last year there were 32. All other years there were 24 participants: the top 3 from last year, 7 players from Japan, 5 from China, 5 from South Korea, 1 from Taiwan, 1 from Europe, 1 from North America, and 1 from South America. In the 2nd-7th editions there were 4 participants from Korea, and 2 from Taiwan.
Participants are chosen via preliminaries in the various countries and continents. Of the 24 players, 8 get a bye in the first round. The format is a single knockout, under Japanese rules, with 5.5 komi (6.5 starting from the main tournament of the 16th edition). The time limit is 3h (but sometimes different for preliminaries and finals).
The Japanese Kisei, Meijin, and Honinbo are seeded.
| # | year | winner | runner-up | sgf | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1988 | Takemiya Masaki | JP | Rin Kaiho | JP | sgf |
| 2 | 1989 | Takemiya Masaki | JP | Rin Kaiho | JP | sgf |
| 3 | 1990 | Rin Kaiho | JP | Nie Weiping | CN | sgf |
| 4 | 1991 | Cho Chikun | JP | Qian Yuping | CN | - |
| 5 | 1992 | Otake Hideo | JP | O Rissei | JP | sgf |
| 6 | 1993 | Yoo Changhyuk | KR | Cho Hunhyun | KR | sgf |
| 7 | 1994 | Cho Hunhyun | KR | Yoo Changhyuk | KR | sgf |
| 8 | 1995 | Ma Xiaochun | CN | Kobayashi Koichi | JP | sgf |
| 9 | 1996 | Lee Changho | KR | Ma Xiaochun | CN | sgf |
| 10 | 1997 | Kobayashi Koichi | JP | O Rissei | JP | sgf |
| 11 | 1998 | Lee Changho | KR | Chang Hao | CN | sgf |
| 12 | 1999 | Yoo Changhyuk | CN | Ma Xiaochun | CN | sgf |
| 13 | 2000 | Cho Hunhyun | KR | Chang Hao | CN | sgf |
| 14 | 2001 | Cho Hunhyun | KR | Choi Myunghun | KR | sgf |
| 15 | 2002 | Lee Sedol | KR | Yoo Changhyuk | KR | sgf |
| 16 | 2003 | Lee Sedol | KR | Song Taekon | KR | sgf |
| 17 | 2004 | Park Yeonghun | KR | Yoda Norimoto | JP | sgf |
| 18 | 2005 | Lee Sedol | KR | Choi Cheolhan | KR | sgf |
| 19 | 2006 | Park Jungsang | KR | Zhou Heyang | CN | sgf |
| 20 | 2007 | Park Yeonghun | KR | Lee Changho | KR | sgf |
| 21 | 2008 | Gu Li | CN | Lee Changho | KR | sgf |
| 22 | 2009 | Kang Dongyun | KR | Lee Changho | KR | sgf |
| 23 | 2010 | Kong Jie | CN | Lee Sedol | KR | sgf |
| 24 | 2011 | Park Junghwan | KR | Qiu Jun | CN | sgf |