is a retired Japanese

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 player ...

, ranked 7-

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

Early life

Kobayashi was born on December 18, 1962, in Tamaki, Mie. He was accepted into the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school as a student of shogi professional Kazuo Manabe at the rank of 6-

kyū is a Japanese term used in modern martial arts as well as in tea ceremony, flower arranging, Go, shogi, academic tests and other similar activities to designate various grades, levels or degrees of proficiency or experience. In Mandarin Chin ...

in 1978, was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 1-dan in 1981, and obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in 1983.

Shogi professional

Kobayashi defeated

Yasumitsu Satō is a Japanese professional shogi player from Yawata City in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. He is currently the president of the Japan Shogi Association. He became a professional in 1987 and is ranked 9-dan. He has won 13 major titles, is a former M ...

to win the 11th in 1992. The victory stopped Satō from winning the tournament three years in a row. Kobayashi finished the finished 69th Meijin Class C2 league play (April 2010March 2011) with a record of 2 wins and 8 losses, earning a second demotion point which meant he was only one point away from automatic demotion to " Free Class" play. As a result, he declared his intention to the Japan Shogi Association to become a Free Class player as of April 2011 rather than risk automatic demotion. Kobayashi retired from professional shogi on April 19, 2022.

Personal life

Kobayashi has been an avid mountain climber since his

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

days.

Promotion history

The promotion history for Kobayashi is as follows: * 1978: 6-

* 1981: 1-dan * 1983, August 3: 4-dan * 1989, May 19: 5-dan * 1995, November 29: 6-dan * 2009, November 25: 7-dan *2022, April 19: Retired

Titles and other championships

Kobayashi has never appeared in a major title match, but he has won one non-title shogi championships during his career.

Awards and honors

Kobayashi received the JSA's "25 Years Service Award" in 2009 in recognition of being an active professional for twenty-five years.

References

External links

*ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Kobayashi, Hiroshi (167)
1962 births Japanese shogi players Living people Professional shogi players Professional shogi players from Mie Prefecture Retired professional shogi players {{Shogi-stub