is a 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 playe ...

ranked 6- dan.

Early life and apprentice professional

Koga was born in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

, Japan on February 13, 1996. He learned how to play shogi from his grandfather when he was about four years old. Koga 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 in September 2011 as a protegee of shogi professional Isao Nakata. He was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 3-dan in April 2017 and obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan after finishing third in the 67th 3-dan League (April 2020September 2020) with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses. Although Koga's third place finish was not sufficient to earn him direct promotion to 4-dan, it was good enough to earn him a second promotion point which gave him the option to enter the professional ranks as a free class player. After consulting with his mentor Nakata, Koga decided he wanted to turn professional even if it meant starting in the Free Class.

Shogi professional

In September 2021, Koga was promoted to Meijin Class C2 after defeating Hirotaka Kajiura 7-dan to reach the finals of the 52nd tournament. Koga's victory meant that he satisfied the criteria for promotion to Class C2 for the 80th Meijin League (April 2022March 2023).

Promotion history

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

kyū is a Japanese language, Japanese term used in modern martial arts as well as in Japanese tea ceremony, tea ceremony, ikebana, flower arranging, Go (game), Go, shogi, academic tests and other similar activities to designate various grades, leve ...

: September 2011 * 3-dan: April 2017 * 4-dan: October 1, 2020 * 5-dan: March 14, 2023 * 6-dan: March 5, 2024

Tsume Shogi Solving Competition

In March 2024, Koga won the 21st Tsume Shogi Solving Competition. He finished with a score of 73 points out of a possible 100 to win the competition for the first time. The tournament had been last held in 2019, but was cancelled from 2020 to 2023 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Sōta Fujii is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9- dan. He is the current holder of the Kiō, Kisei, Meijin, Ōi, Ōshō, Ōza and Ryūō titles, and a former holder of the Eiō title. He is the youngest person to be awarded professional st ...

8-crown title holder, who won the competition the last five times it was held, did not participate in the competition.

Notes

References

External links

* ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Koga, Yusei
Living people 2001 births Japanese shogi players Japan Shogi Association players Sportspeople from Fukuoka (city) Shogi players from Fukuoka Prefecture {{shogi-stub