Official News Release

The record for the youngest to win a major title has been broken for the first time in 30 years! A signature of Fujii Souta can be added to Dan Diploma according to your preferences.

Fujii Souta 7-dan (17 years old) defeated Watanabe Akira Kisei in the 4th game of The 91st Hulic Cup on July 16th 2020, and won the Kisei title with 3 wins and 1 loss. He became the youngest professional Shogi player to win a title at age 17 years and 11 months, a record for the first time in 30 years. In commemoration of this achievement, Dan Diploma with additional signature of Fujii Souta new Kisei will be released. Please take this opportunity to apply for the certification as a proof of your efforts.
For those who will apply, a printed miniature paperboard of Fujii Souta Kisei as a present.

Application Period

From 1st August 2020 to 31st October 2020 　

Dan Applicable

From 1-dan to 6-dan
（A prior inquiry is required when you apply from 7-dan or more. The Board of Directors will review your application and contact you.）

Number of Dan Diploma released

600 pieces（The number of pieces released in each dan is limited.）

Application Requirements

・Nomination of professionals, branch heads, instructors and federation dojos
・Those who have a Shogi World Diploma or a recommendation letter of diploma for various certifications.
・Those who have an official diploma and a 1-kyu certification or higher（You may apply for the next higher dan）

Application fee (incl. tax)
1-dan	44,000 yen
2-dan	55,000 yen
3-dan	66,000 yen
4-dan	88,000 yen
5-dan	121,000 yen
6-dan	286,000 yen
※11,000 yen (incl. tax) will be added to the normal fee.

※It will take more than two months to issue a diploma. We kindly ask for your understanding.
※Notes for Application : If you have an application form, please fill out the form and submit it. For those who don't have an application form, please contact us by email or fax to the following address.

Application Method

Applications will be accepted at Rakuten and Yahoo! Shopping from 1st August 2020.

Contact Information (e.g. for inquiry)

〒151-8516　The Japan Shogi Association, Public Interest Incorporated Association, Diploma department
TEL：03-3408-6168　FAX：03-3404-7301
E-mail：nintei@shogi.or.jp

At the 71st Regular General Meeting, the new demotion criteria of C-class 2nd group has been approved as follows.

※The demotion criteria is subject to change if necessary, depending on future circumstances of demotions to Free Class and moving-outs.

　The 4th game of 91st Hulic Cup Kisei Championship 5-Games Title Match was held today, Thursday, July 16, at the Kansai Shogi Kaikan in Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture. Fujii Souta 7-dan (17 years old) defeated Watanabe Akira Kisei and won the Kisei title with 3 wins and 1 loss. He became the youngest professional shogi player to win a title at age 17 years and 11 months, a record for the first time in 30 years.

Top 10 youngest title winners

No.	Name	Birthdate	Date of winning	Age at winning	Name of a title
1	Fujii Souta	19 Jul 2002	16 Jul 2020	17 years 11 months	The 91st Hulic's Cup Kisei Championship
2	Yashiki Nobuyuki	18 Jan 1972	1 Aug 1990	18 years 6 months	The 56th Kisei Championship
3	Habu Yoshiharu	27 Sep 1970	27 Dec 1989	19 years 3 months	The 2nd Ryuo Tournament
4	Watanabe Akira	23 Apr 1984	28 Dec 2004	20 years 8 months	The 17th Ryuo Tournament
5	Nakahara Makoto （Retired）	2 Sep 1947	19 Jul 1968	20 years 10 months	The 12th Kisei Championship
6	Tanigawa Koji	6 Apr 1962	15 Jun 1983	21 years 2 months	The 41st  Meijin-sen Tournament
7	Goda Masataka	17 Mar 1971	9 Sep 1992	21 years 5 months	The 33rd Ōi Tournament
8	Miura Hiroyuki	13 Feb 1974	30 Jul 1996	22 years 5 months	The 67h Kisei Championship
9	Tsukada Yasuaki	16 Nov 1964	21 Oct 1987	22 years 11 months	The 35th Ōza Tournament
10	Nakamura Osamu	7 Nov 1962	14 March 1986	23 years 4 months	The 35th Ōsho Tournament

※The Kisei Championships are held twice a year until the 65th games.

《Reference》Oldest first title winner

Name	Bithdate	Date of winning	Age at winning	Name of a title
Kimura Kazuki	23 Jun 1973	26 Sep 2019	46 years 3 months	The 60th Ōi Tournament

Comments from officials

　Abe Takashi 8-dan, aged 52,has been promoted to 9-dan by winning the following game.

Date of promotion:

July 15th 2020（Wed）

Game:

The promotion game in 5th group for the 33rd Ryuo Tournament
(Opponent: Fujikura Yuki 5-Dan)

Promotion criteria met:

250 wins in the official games after 8-dan promotion

The 2nd of 5 games at the 2nd Hulic Cup Seiryu Tournament was held on Friday, July 10 at Shogi Kaikan in Tokyo, Satomi Kana Seirei defeated Ueda Hatsumi women's 4-dan with 110 moves and recorded 2 consecutive wins and 0 loss out of 5 games.

The 3rd game will be held on Friday, July 31 at the Shogi Kaikan in Tokyo.

For more information, please visitthe website of Seirei Tournament live broadcast or the mobile app of Japan Shogi Association live broadcast.

　The 69th Osaka Ōshō Cup Ceremony was held in Tokyo Dome Hotel on July 7th to celebrate the 69th title winner, Watanabe Akira .
The scene was reported in the Mainichi Shimbun and Sports Nippon published on July 8th.
In addition, the video is now on available to watch on YouTube from 3 pm on July 8th.

The URL of YouTube video is here;https://youtu.be/U7SjrXkGy_A

At 81Dojo, the free online playing site under the patronage of JSA, a teaching game event for the winners of the World Shogi League will be held for the third time. JSA invites you to come and watch the games.

9-Dan Habu Yoshiharu　　7-Dan Nakamura Taichi　　6-Dan Ohira Takehiro

6-Dan Toyama Yusuke　　5-Dan Aoshima Mirai　　Ladies 2-Dan Kitao Madoka　　Ladies 1-kyu Styczynska Karolina

Start time			Pro	Amateur(81Nickname)	Handicap
Japan	UTC	Hungary
4/12（日）18:00	April 12th Sun.9:00	April 12th Sun.11:00	Yoshiharu Habu 9dan	Alexander　Miszko (dstn3422)	Bishop
4/12（日）19:00	April 12th Sun.10:00	April 12th Sun.12:00	Taichi Nakamura 7dan	Peter　Puha (shift2shift)	Rook
4/12（日）20:00	April 12th Sun.11:00	April 12th Sun.13:00	Yusuke Toyama 6dan	Laszlo　Abuczki (Linkuei)	Even

Start time			Pro	Amateur(81Nickname)	Handicap
Japan	UTC	Ukraine
4/19（日）18:00	April 19th Sun.9:00	April 19th Sun.12:00	Takehiro Ohira 6dan	Sergiy　Krivosheya (skzt)	Rook
4/19（日）19:00	April 19th　Sun.10:00	April 19th　Sun.13:00	Takehiro Ohira 6dan	Sergiy　Trokhymyshyn (SergiiT)	Bishop
4/19（日）20:00	April 19th　Sun.11:00	April 19th　Sun.14:00	Karolina STYCZYNSKA Ladies 1kyu	Yashchur　 Mykola (nick777)	Even

Start time			Pro	Amateur(81Nickname)	Handicap
Japan	UTC	Malaysia
5/2（土）18:00	May 2nd Sat.9:00	May 2nd Sat.17:00	Mirai Aoshima 5dan	Ng Teck　Sen (NorikatsuMiyamoto)	Even
5/2（土）19:00	May 2nd Sat.10:00	May 2nd Sat.18:00	Mirai Aoshima 5dan	Tan Wei Hong (whtan02)	Even
5/2（土）20:00	May 2nd Sat.11:00	May 2nd Sat.19:00	Madoka Kitao Ladies 2dan	Tan Tzi Yang (tantziyang)	Even

Start time			Pro	Amateur(81Nickname)	Handicap
Japan	UTC	France
5/10（日）18:00	May 10th Sun.9:00	May 10th Sun.11:00	Madoka Kitao Ladies 2dan	Sebastien　de GROOT (DarumaGama)	2 piece
5/10（日）19:00	May 10th Sun.10:00	May 10th Sun.12:00	Madoka Kitao Ladies 2dan	Guillaume　Tatti (Aavygeil)	2 piece
5/10（日）20:00	May 10th Sun.11:00	May 10th Sun.13:00	Karolina STYCZYNSKA Ladies 1kyu	Tristan　 Trannin (TristanT)	Even

World Shogi League is a tournament between countries played by 3-player teams that are divided into four leagues: A, B, C, and D. It is organized by Thomas Pfaffel from Austria, who was aso the invited player of the 29th Amateur Ryuo Tournament. (Seee also: https://www.shogi.or.jp/event/2016/06/29_10.html) Anyone can watch the teaching games at 81Dojo.

On April 12th, there is also an English live broadcast by Ladies 1-kyu Karolina Styczynska: https://www.twitch.tv/shogi_harbour

※81Dojo's server has a certain capacity limit for number of online users. For details, please contact info@81dojo.com

In light of Covid-19 pandemic Shogi Renmei postpones the following events.

78th Meijinsen 7-match

1st to 3rd games

Shoreikai　3 Dan League & Regular games of 2 Dan and below both at East and West branch.

3 Dan League opening and Regular games during April 7th to May 6th.

　Very much appreciated your cooperation and understanding.

　Due to the wide spreading Covid-19 infection, the committee decided to postpone the opening game of Meijinsen 7-match scheduled during April 8th to 9th in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. This is to carry out 2-day long game without any troubles.
　The committee is considering to shift the 4th game scheduled during May 19th to 20th in Takayama, Nagano to the opening game. The committee will announce the later schedule and locations of the games as soon as decided.

　Ido Chihiro Ladies 2-Dan takes maternity and parental leave during 2020/4/1～2020/8/31.
It would be greatly appreciated your support and consideration.