is a Japanese professional shogi 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'Ivoi ...

Early life

Yagura was born on September 27, 1974, in

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

. He entered the

Japan Shogi Association The , or JSA, is the primary organizing body for professional shogi in Japan. The JSA sets the professional calendar, negotiates sponsorship and media promotion deals, helps organize tournaments and title matches, publishes shogi-related materia ...

's apprentice school 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 1986 under the guidance of shogi professional

Kiyozumi Kiriyama is a retired Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9-dan. He is a former Kisei and Kiō major title holder as well as a former director of the Japan Shogi Association. Early life Kiriyama was born on October 17, 1947, in Shimoichi, Nara. ...

, was promoted to the rank of 1-dan in 1990, and obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in October 1994.

Playing style and theoretical contributions

Although his

family name In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

is the same as one of main strategies used in

Static Rook Static Rook (居飛車 ''ibisha'') openings in shogi typically have the player's rook at its start position, which is the second file (on the 28 square) for Black and the eighth file (on the 82 square) for White. Explanation Static Rook is a ...

openings, Yagura's speciality is

Ranging Rook Ranging Rook or Swinging Rook (振り飛車 ''furibisha'') openings in shogi position the rook to the center or left of the player's board to support an attack there. Ranging Rook strategies used in Ranging Rook vs Static Rook are among the old ...

openings. He prefers to avoid established opening theory known as jōseki in favor of a more games and is known for his piece maneuvering skill or '' sabaki''. There is a variation of

Central Rook In shogi, Central Rook (中飛車 ''nakabisha'') is a subclass of Ranging Rook openings in which the rook is positioned on the fifth (central) file. However, since the central file can be thought of as the dividing line between Ranging Rook and ...

named after him ( ''Yagura-ryū Nakabisha''), which is not to be confused with the Central Rook variation of the

Yagura opening Fortress (矢倉 or 櫓 ''yagura'') is both a Static Rook opening (矢倉戦法 ''yagura senpō'') and a castle in shogi. It is usually played in a Double Static Rook opening, which is often a Double Fortress opening. However, it may also occu ...

Promotion history

The promotion history for Yagura is as follows. * 6-

: 1986 * 1-dan: 1990 * 4-dan: October 1, 1994 * 5-dan: June 11, 1999 * 6-dan: July 28, 2005 * 7-dan: July 1, 2015

References

External links

*ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Yagura, Norihiro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yagura, Norihiro Japanese shogi players Living people Professional shogi players Professional shogi players from Osaka Prefecture 1974 births