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 9-

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 ...

. He is a former Kisei title holder and also a former

senior managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of 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 ...

Early life

Tanaka was born on April 29, 1957, in

Toyonaka, Osaka is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on October 15, 1936. Geography Climate Toyonaka has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The averag ...

. In 1971, he entered the

'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 ...

under guidance of shogi professional . He was promoted to the 1-dan in May 1974, and obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan in June 1976.

Shogi professional

Tanaka's first championship as a professional came in 1981 when he defeated to 2 games to none to win the 12th . He also won the 1st (1982), the 5th (1982), the 34th NHK Cup (1984), the 17th (1984) and the 20th (1986). Tanaka's first appearance in a major title match came in the Spring of 1988 when he challenged Yoshikazu Minami for the 52nd Kisei title; Tanaka won the match 3 games to 2 for his only major title. The following autumn he was unable to defend his title against

Makoto Nakahara is a retired Japanese professional shogi player who achieved the rank of 9-dan. He is one of the strongest shogi players of the Shōwa period (1926–1989) and holds the titles of Lifetime Kisei, Lifetime Meijin, , Lifetime Ōi, and Lifetime ...

, losing the 53rd Kisei title match by the same score. Tanaka retired from professional shogi on April 15, 2022. He finished his career with a record of 794 wins and 783 losses.

JSA director

Tanaka has served on the Japan Shogi Association's board of directors on multiple occasions. He was first elected as an

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

at the association's 56th General Meeting for a two-year term on May 26, 2005, and then re-elected to the same position in May 2007 and May 2011. He was re-elected as a director in December 2012, Tanaka was chosen to be the JSA's

to replace

Koji Tanigawa Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to: *Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144 *Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558 *Koji orange, a Japanese citrus ...

after the latter was chosen to replace

Kunio Yonenaga was a Japanese professional shogi player and president of Japan Shogi Association (May, 2005 - December 18, 2012). He received an honorary title Lifetime Kisei due to his remarkable results in the Kisei title tournament. He is a former Meijin ...

, who died earlier in the month, as president.

Shogi theoretical contributions

Tanaka earned the nickname "Edison of the opening" (), in reference to inventor

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

, for his innovations in the opening part of the game. He helped popularize the

Bear-in-the-hole castle The Bear-in-the-hole or Anaguma castle (穴熊 ''anaguma'', badger, lit. "hole-bear") is a castle used in shogi. (An anaguma is a Japanese badger.) It is commonly used in professional shogi. History The Bear-in-the-hole was initially a castle ...

as a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

for Counter-Ranging Rook

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 ...

positions. At the time, the Bear-in-the-hole was used primarily for

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 ...

positions. The diagram below shows Tanaka (Black) using Static Rook position with an Incomplete Bear-in-the-hole castle in an October 1976 professional match. His opponent Daigorō Satō (White) is using a

Third File Rook In shogi, Third File Rook (三間飛車 ''sangenbisha'' or ''sankenbisha'') is a class of Ranging Rook openings in which the rook is positioned on the third file if played by White or the seventh file if played by Black. Types There are two ba ...

(developed from an earlier

Fourth File Rook In shogi, Fourth File Rook (四間飛車 ''shikenbisha'') is a class of Ranging Rook openings in which the rook is initially positioned on the fourth file if played by White or the sixth file if played by Black. History The earlie ...

position).

Promotion history

Tanaka's promotion history is as follows. * 1972: 6-

* 1974: 1-dan * 1976, June 4: 4-dan * 1981, April 1: 5-dan * 1982, April 1: 6-dan * 1983, April 1: 7-dan * 1984, April 1: 8-dan * 1994, December 16: 9-dan

Titles and other championships

Tanaka has appeared in major title matches twice and has won one title. In addition to major titles, Tanaka has won six other shogi championships during his career.

Awards and honors

Tanaka has received a number of Japan Shogi Association

Annual Shogi Awards The Annual Shogi Awards (将棋大賞 ''shōgi taishō'') are a number of prizes awarded yearly by the Japan Shogi Association to professional and amateur shogi players who have achieved particular success. The first Annual Shogi Awards were pre ...

: "Best New Player" (1976), "Most Consecutive Games Won" (1976), "Best Winning Percentage" (1978, 1980, 1981 and 1983), the "Techinique Award" (1978 and 1988), and the "Fighting-spirit Award" (1981 and 1983). He also received the association's "Shogi Honor Award" in 2000 in recognition of winning 600 official games as a professional and the "25 Years Service Award" in 2001 in recognition of being an active professional for twenty-five years.

References

External links

*ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Tanaka, Torahiko
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Torahiko 1957 births Japanese shogi players Living people Kisei (shogi) Professional shogi players from Osaka Prefecture People from Toyonaka, Osaka Professional shogi players Retired professional shogi players Shinjin-Ō Ginga