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Ryūō
Ryūō (also Ryu-O, Ryu-oh, Ryuuou; in Japanese 龍王, 竜王, lit. "Dragon King") is an annual Japanese professional shogi tournament and the title of its winner. The current Ryūō title holder is Sōta Fujii. The Ryūō Tournament (''Ryūō-sen'' 竜王戦) is sponsored by the ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' as well as the title awarded to its winner. It is one of the eight major professional shogi title matches and was first held in 1988. Among the eight titles in the professional shogi titleholder system, Ryūō and Meijin are the most prestigious ones. However, the Ryūō title gives out the highest monetary prizeeven more than the Meijin title. Cash prizes are ¥44,000,000 for the winner of championship and new Ryūō titleholder, and ¥16,500,000 for the loser. Additional compensation includes ¥14,500,000 for the previous titleholder and ¥7,000,000 for the challenger. This title should not be confused with that of Amateur Ryūō which is awarded each year to the winner of the Amate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akira Watanabe (shogi)
is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9-dan. He is the current holder of the Meijin, and Kiō major titles, and also a former holder of the Kisei, Ōshō, Ōza and Ryūō titles. He is also a Lifetime Kiō and a Lifetime Ryūō title holder. Early life Watanabe was born on April 23, 1984, in Katsushika, Tokyo. He learned how to play shogi from his father, who was an amateur 5-dan ranked player. He won the in 1994 as a fourth-grade student at Hokizuka Elementary School. He was the first fourth-grade winner in the history of the tournament. That same year Watanabe took the entrance exam for the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school. Part of his test was a game against future women's professional Sayuri Takebe, who was member of the apprentice school at the time. The entire game was played at an extremely fast pace, with Watanabe winning in less than two minutes. Watanabe passed the entrance exam and entered the apprentice school as a 6-kyū protegee of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akira Watanabe (shogi Player)
is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9-dan. He is the current holder of the Meijin, and Kiō major titles, and also a former holder of the Kisei, Ōshō, Ōza and Ryūō titles. He is also a Lifetime Kiō and a Lifetime Ryūō title holder. Early life Watanabe was born on April 23, 1984, in Katsushika, Tokyo. He learned how to play shogi from his father, who was an amateur 5-dan ranked player. He won the in 1994 as a fourth-grade student at Hokizuka Elementary School. He was the first fourth-grade winner in the history of the tournament. That same year Watanabe took the entrance exam for the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school. Part of his test was a game against future women's professional Sayuri Takebe, who was member of the apprentice school at the time. The entire game was played at an extremely fast pace, with Watanabe winning in less than two minutes. Watanabe passed the entrance exam and entered the apprentice school as a 6-kyū protegee of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sōta Fujii
is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9-dan. He is the current holder of the Eiō, Kisei, Ōi, Ōshō and Ryūō titles. He is the youngest person to be awarded professional status by the Japan Shogi Association and one of only five players to become professional while still a junior high school student. Since becoming a professional, Fujii has broken a number of professional shogi records including being the youngest player to win a professional shogi tournament, the youngest player to challenge for a major title, the youngest player to win a major title, the youngest player to be a 2-crown title holder, the youngest player to defend a major title, the youngest player to be awarded the rank of 9-dan, the youngest to be a 3-crown title holder, the youngest to be a 4-crown title holder and the youngest to be a 5-crown title holder. He also won his first 29 games as a professional to set a new record for most consecutive games won. Early life Fujii was born in Seto, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoshiharu Habu
is a professional shogi player and a chess FIDE Master. His master is Tatsuya Futakami. He is the only person to simultaneously hold seven major professional shogi titles at the same time and is also the only person to qualify as a lifetime title holder for seven major titles. In January 2018, Habu became the first professional shogi player to be awarded Japan's People's Honour Award. Early life Yoshiharu Habu was born in Tokorozawa, Saitama in 1970 and moved to Hachioji, Tokyo before entering kindergarten. Habu first encountered shogi in his first year of elementary school, when his classmates taught him how the shogi pieces move. He was so fascinated by the game that his mother entered him in a shogi tournament held at the Hachioji Shogi Club in the summer of 1978. Although Habu was eliminated during the preliminary rounds with a record of 1 win and 2 losses, his parents took him to the shogi club every weekend from October 1978. Habu improved so rapidly that he was promote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Professional Shogi Player
A professional shogi player (将棋棋士 ''shōgi kishi'' or プロ棋士 ''puro kishi'' "professional player") is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players. There are two categories of professional players: regular professional and women's professional. All regular professional shogi players are members of the Japan Shogi Association (JSA). However, only regular professional players, who are all male, are considered to be full-fledged members. Women's professional players belong to groups distinct from regular professional players. In Japanese, the term 棋士 ''kishi'' only refers to regular professional players to the exclusion of women's professionals, who are termed 女流棋士 ''joryū kishi.'' History During the Edo period (1603-1868), shogi followed an iemoto system centered around three families (schools): the , the and the . Titles such as Meijin were hereditary and could only be held by members of these three families. These ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Professional Shogi Player
A professional shogi player (将棋棋士 ''shōgi kishi'' or プロ棋士 ''puro kishi'' "professional player") is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players. There are two categories of professional players: regular professional and women's professional. All regular professional shogi players are members of the Japan Shogi Association (JSA). However, only regular professional players, who are all male, are considered to be full-fledged members. Women's professional players belong to groups distinct from regular professional players. In Japanese, the term 棋士 ''kishi'' only refers to regular professional players to the exclusion of women's professionals, who are termed 女流棋士 ''joryū kishi.'' History During the Edo period (1603-1868), shogi followed an iemoto system centered around three families (schools): the , the and the . Titles such as Meijin were hereditary and could only be held by members of these three families. These ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takeshi Fujii
is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan. He is a former Ryūō title holder, and a former non-executive director of the Japan Shogi Association. Fujii is known for developing the Fujii System, a class of strategies for Fourth File Rook positions against Static Rook opponents especially Static Rook Anaguma. Shogi professional Fujii's first tournament championship as a professional came in 1996 when he defeated Tadahisa Maruyama 2 games to 1 to win the 27th tournament. The following year, Fujii defended his championship by defeating Mamoru Hatakeyama 2 games to none to win the 28th Shinjin-Ō tournament. Fujii won the tournament for a third time in 1999 when he defeated Kazushiza Horiguchi 2 games to none to win the 30th Shinjin-Ō tournament. Fujii is one of three professionals to win the Shinjin-Ō tournament three times. Fujii's first appearance in a major title match came in 1998 when he challenged Kōji Tanigawa for the 11th Ryūō title. Fujii earned the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetsurō Itodani
is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 8-dan and former Ryūō title holder. Itodani, together with Akira Inaba, Masayuki Toyoshima and Akihiro Murata, is one of four Kansai-based young shogi professionals who are collectively referred to as the "Young Kansai Big Four" (関西若手四天王 ''Kansai Wakate Shitennō''). Early life and education Itodani was born in Hiroshima, Japan on October 5, 1988. He learned how to play shogi when he was five years old and he won the 1st and 2nd Elementary School Ōshō tournaments for grades 1 to 3 in 1995 and 1996 as an elementary school student. He entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school in October 1998 at the rank of 6-kyū as a protegee of shogi professional . He was promoted to 1-dan in February 2003 and to 3-dan in 2004. From October 2004 to March 2005, he participated in the 36th 3-dan League finishing in fourth place with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses. The following season in the 37th 3-dan League (A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takashi Abe
is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan. Early life Takashi Abe was born in Osaka Prefecture on August 25, 1967. Although it was said that Abe was more passionate about " yakyū" than shogi as a young boy, he entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū under the guidance of shogi professional during his second year of junior high school in December 1981. Abe rapidly progressed through the apprentice school, being promoted to the rank of 1-dan in 1983 and then obtaining full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in June 1985, just 3 years and 7 months after becoming an apprentice. Shogi professional In 1986, Abe participated in a special three-game match against Yoshiharu Habu called the ", which was a special project pitting the most promising young professional from Western Japan (the 17-year-old Abe) against the most promising young professional from Eastern Japan (the 15-year-old Habu). Even though Abe ended up losing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taku Morishita
is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan. He is a former director of the Japanese Shogi Association, and is currently serving as an executive director. He was the challenger for the Meijin title in 1995 against Yoshiharu Habu. Habu retained the title. Early life Taku Morishita was born in Kokura, Kitakyushu on July 10, 1966. In September 1978, he entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū under guidance of shogi professional . He was promoted to the 1-dan in June 1981, and obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan in September 1983. Shogi professional In 1985, Morishita advanced to the championship match of the 16th tournament, but lost to Keita Inoue 2 games to 1. Five years later in October 1990, Morishita faced in the championship match of 21st Shinjin-Ō tournament, winning 2 games to 1 for his first tournament championship as a professional. The following year, Morishita met Toshiyuki Moriuchi in the championship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akira Shima
is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan. He was the first Ryūō title holder and is also a former managing director of the Japan Shogi Association. Shogi professional Shima is a member of the so-called ''Shōwa 55'' group (55年組), a group of eight strong players that become professional in 1980–1981 (year 55 of the Shōwa period) and won numerous shogi tournaments. Others in the group include Yoshikazu Minami, Osamu Nakamura, Michio Takahashi, Yasuaki Tsukada, Hiroshi Kamiya, Masaki Izumi, and Yūji Yoda. On February 6, 2018, Shima defeated Keita Kadokura in a Meijin Class C1 league game to become the 21st person to win 800 official games as a professional, and was awarded the "Shogi Honor Fighting-spirit Award" as a result. Promotion history The promotion history for Shima is as follows: * 6-kyū: 1975 * 1-dan: 1977 * 4-dan: September 18, 1980 * 5-dan: May 10, 1984 * 6-dan: April 1, 1986 * 7-dan: April 1, 1989 * 8-dan: April 1, 1994 * 9-dan: April 17, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toshiyuki Moriuchi
is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan. He is a Lifetime Meijin who won the title eight times, and also a former Ryūō, Kiō and Ōshō title holder. He is also a former senior managing director of the Japan Shogi Association. Early life Moriuchi was born on October 10, 1970, in Yokohama. His grandfather was shogi professional , who died about ten years before Moriuchi was born. When Moriuchi was young and would visit his grandmother's house, she would show him old issues of '' Shogi World'' that she had kept, and this is when Moriuchi first became interested in shogi. Moriuchi started playing in shogi tournaments as an elementary school student and it was there that his rivalry with Yoshiharu Habu began. Habu lived in neighboring Tokyo and was the same age, so the two often participated in the same tournaments. Moriuchi even went to watch Habu win a tournament whose entry was limited to Tokyo residents only. The following year, Moriuchi defeated Habu in the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
