is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 8-

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

Sasaki was born in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland on August 5, 1994. His family moved to France when he was two years old and then returned to Misato in

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

, Japan when he was about five.

Shogi

Amateur shogi

As a young boy, Sasaki liked playing outdoors. His middle ear, however, became

inflamed Inflammation (from la, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molecu ...

from swimming, and his doctor advised his parents to limit his playing to indoors for a while until it healed. Sasaki's father played the game go, but Sasaki started studying shogi at the prodding of his mother because she was worried that her son might mistakenly swallow one of the go pieces. As a first-grade elementary school student, he was already playing against adults at his local shogi club and was soon going to the club six days a week. In 2003, Sasaki won the lower-grade section of the 2nd as a third-grade student, and then the following year he won the 29th as a fourth-grade student to become just the second fourth grader, after Akira Watanabe, to win the tournament. In September 2004, Sasaki was accepted into 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 ...

under the guidance of shogi professional . In April 2008, Sasaki was promoted to the rank of appentice-professional 3-dan as a second-year junior high school student, which at the time tied the record for being the second fastest person to do so since entering the apprentice school. He obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in October 2010 after winning the 47th 3-dan League (April 2010September 2010) with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses. Sasaki was 16 years and 1 month old and still a junior high school student when he was awarded professional status, thus becoming just the sixth junior high school student to turn professional.

Shogi professional

Sasaki ended

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 fiv ...

's record of 29 consecutive wins by defeating Fujii on his 30th game.

Promotion history

Sasaki's promotion history is as follows: * 6-

: 2004 * 3-dan: 2008 * 4-dan: October 1, 2010 * 5-dan: March 11, 2014 * 6-dan: July 11, 2017 * 7-dan: November 16, 2018 * 8-dan: March 9, 2023

Titles and other championships

Sasaki has yet to appear in a major title, and his only tournament victory as a professional came in October 2013 when he defeated

Shōta Chida is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 7-dan. Chida is known for his novel research into shogi opening theory using computer shogi engines. Early life Shōta Chida was born on April 10, 1994, in Minoh, Osaka. He learned how to play sh ...

2 games to 1 to win the 3rd .

Awards and honors

Sasaki won the Japan Shogi Association's Annual Shogi Awards for "Most Games Played" (65 games) in 2017, and the Kōzō Masuda Award for the Yūki Side Pawn Capture in 2018.

References

External links

*ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Sasaki, Yuki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasaki, Yuki Japanese shogi players Living people Professional shogi players Professional shogi players from Saitama Prefecture Professional shogi players born outside of Japan 1994 births