勝 - WIN and Raise Yourself Up with Your Own Strength

Readings & Meanings:

か（つ）

ショウ

まさ（る）

Common Usage:

（＿で）勝つ

勝ち気

勝負

Examples:

ポーカーで勝った。

あの人は勝ち気な人だ。

じゃんけんで勝負する。

Translations:

I won at poker.

That person is someone who is determined to win.

Let's have a match of rock, paper, scissors.

Radical:

Surprisingly, this kanji is organized as a 力-radical kanji. Chikara, 力, is in the bottom right corner.

The phonetic is everything else: 朕. This kanji is a pictogram of two hands, raising a boat.

Taking the idea of raising, and adding the "strength" of 力, you have someone who is raised above others by virtue of strength. Therefore, that person is the winner.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/7.htm