Official News Release

4-Dan Ishii Kentaro (25 years old) has been promoted to 5-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

October 30, 2017

Game

59th Oui Tournament, Qualify Round
(opponent: 6-Dan Yokoyama Hiroaki)

Promotion criteria met

Number of games won (100 wins in official games after becoming 4-Dan)

On October 28th and 29th, the 7th International Shogi Tournament will be played as the main program of the 7th International Shogi Forum in Kita-kyushu held in Kita-kyushu International Convention Center. The representative players have been decided as follows. 48 players from record-breaking 42 countries and regions will participate this year.

Players of the 7th International Shogi Forum in Kita-Kyushu

	Region	Country(Japanese)	Country	Player
1	Europe	ノルウェー	Norway	Richart Bjerke
2		スウェーデン	Sweden	Christer Hartman
3		フィンランド	Finland	Mikko Tornqvist
4		イギリス	United Kingdom	Steven Cain
5		ポルトガル	Portugal	Fernando Batista
6		スペイン	Spain	Jordi Fluvia
7		フランス	France	Jean Fortin
8		オランダ	Netherlands	Wouter de Haas
9		ベルギー	Belgium	Jean-François Hastir
10		デンマーク	Denmark	Peter Heine Nielsen
11		ドイツ	Germany	Thomas Leiter
12		イタリア	Italy	Michele Riondino
13		チェコ	Czech	Long Do
14		オーストリア	Austria	Thomas Pfaffel
15		ポーランド	Poland	Kamil Michaluk
16		スロバキア	Slovakia	Michal Moravcik
17		ハンガリー	Hungary	Adrián　Potari
18		ギリシャ	Greece	Stefanos Mandalas
19		ロシア	Russia	Mikhail　Ivanov
20		ベラルーシ	Belarus	Petr Shcheslenak
21		ウクライナ	Ukraine	Borys Baidenko
22	Invited	ヨーロッパ選手権優勝	Europe	Vinsent Tanian
23		ヨーロッパ選手権準優勝	Europe	Sergej Korchitskij
24	Asia	モンゴル	Mongolia	Erdenebaatar Genden
25		中国（北京）	China	李　鹏宇 Li Pengyu
26		中国（上海）	China	顧　冠鳴 Gu Guanming
27		タイ	Thailand	Veerayut Sreshthasit
28		ベトナム	Vietnam	Nguyen Quang Huy
29		シンガポール	Singapore	Zhuo Loon Lim
30		インドネシア	Indonesia	Muhammad Satria
31		香港	Hong Kong	梁 啓雲 Kai Wan Leung
32		台湾	Taiwan	劉　又寧 Yu-ning Liu
33		韓国	South Korea	尹 仁燮 Inseop Youn
34		日本	Japan	田代　悠貴
35		日本	Japan	波戸　康広
36	Africa	チュニジア	Tunisia	Fakhri　Hamila
37		エジプト	Egypt	Hassan Moustafa Elzeiny
38		コートジボワール	Côte d'Ivoire	Duhamel Bah
39	Oceania	ニュージーランド	New Zealand	Michael Mackinven
40	North America	アメリカ	United States	富田　桂次
41		アメリカ	United States	鈴木　由久
42	Latin America	メキシコ	Mexico	Marco Antonio Camacho
43		グアテマラ	Guatemala	Alejandro Reina Ramirez
44		コロンビア	Colombia	Hans Bayer
45		ペルー	Peru	Dante Acuna
46		チリ	Chile	Robinson Arce
47		ブラジル	Brazil	吉田　国夫
48		ブラジル	Brazil	増子　利栄

6-Dan Kawakami Takeshi (45 years old) has been promoted to 7-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

October 17, 2017

Game

66th Ouza Tournament, 1st Qualify Round
(opponent: 7-Dan Chuza Makoto)

Promotion criteria met

Number of games won (150 wins in official games after becoming 6-Dan)

6-Dan Nakamura Taichi (29 years old) has been promoted to 7-Dan by winning a title on October 11th, after winning Game 4 of the 65th Ouza 5-game Title Match, with the winning count of 3 to 1.

Date of promotion

October 11, 2017

Game

65th Ouza 5-game Title Match, Game 4
(opponent: Ouza Habu Yoshiharu)

Promotion criteria met

Holding a title for one term

The Japan Shogi Association has decided to issue certificates for 15-kyu to 11-kyu, aiming that new shogi fans and beginners can officially state their skill levels.
We established these new certificates hoping that it will encourage people to improve their skills, and that those who got interested in shogi will enjoy playing for long time.
The price is also set very reasonably. We look forward to your application.

Starting Date of the Issuing

October 1, 2017

Price

1,080 JPY (tax included)

Size

A4 certificate format

Contact

JSA Diploma/Certificate Office
Phone(Japanese)：03-3408-6168 | Email：nintei@shogi.or.jp

8-Dan Izumi Masaki (56 years old) won against 7-Dan Kinoshita Koichi on October 4th in the Qualify Round of the 59th Oui Tournament (sponsored by Three Newspaper Federation) held in Shogi Kaikan, Tokyo, becoming the 50th player to achieve 600 total wins in official games (Shogi Honor Award).

8-Dan Izumi Masaki's career record as of the time of achieving 600 wins

1212 games, 600 wins - 612 losses, winning rate 0.495

In the 18th games of the 61th Shoureikai 3-Dan League (April 2017 ～ September 2017), played on September 9th in Shogi Kaikan, Tokyo, 3-Dan Saito Asuto and 3-Dan Komori Yuta decided their promotion to 4-Dan. Final results are 14 wins 4 losses for Saito, and 12 wins 6 losses for Komori. Their promotion date will be October 1st, 2017.
The third player was 3-Dan Kai Hyuga, with 12 wins 6 losses.

Saito Asuto, professional player ID 311

Date of birth

Jul. 17, 1998 (19 years old)

Hometown

Kawasaki city, Kanagawa prefecture

Currently resides in

Kawasaki city, Kanagawa prefecture

Master

8-Dan Miyata Toshio

Enrollment in Shoureikai

September 2010

Enrollment in 3rd-Dan League

October 2015 (from 58th term)

Favorite strategy

Side Pawn Picker variations

Hobby

futsal, swimming

How he started playing shogi

Taught by father before entering elementary school

Comment

"There were times when I could not show my real strength, it was more difficult struggle than I had expected.
I played every single game feeling its importance. I think that is what enabled this good result.
I hope to play a title match someday, and win a title."

Komori Yuta, professional player ID 312

Date of birth

Aug. 20, 1995 (22 years old)

Hometown

Takatsuki city, Osaka prefecture

Currently resides in

Takatsuki city, Osaka prefecture

Master

9-Dan Kobayashi Kenji

Enrollment in Shoureikai

September 2008

Enrollment in 3rd-Dan League

October 2016 (from 60th term)

Favorite strategy

Bishop-exchanged Swinging Rook

Hobby

Karaoke

How he started playing shogi

Taught by grandfather in 2nd grade of elementary school

Comment

"In this term a one-win-one-loss situation continued for some time in the middle, so I felt uneasy. I am relieved now that I can promote.
I want to play games where I play patiently, not giving up easily when the position is bad.
I hope to be involved in title matches."

Shoshi Kazuharu 7-Dan will participate in the Global Doubles Match (two players from Japan), held in Chengdu, China, from September 1st to 5th, 2017.
Departs on 1st, returns on 6th.
Details of the tournament

He will then participate in the 18th Asian Individual Championships (one male and one female player from Japan), held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from September 15th to 21st, 2017.
Departs on 15th, returns on 22nd.
Website of the Asian Xiangqi Federation

He will also participate in the 15th World Championships (3 players from Japan), held in City of Manila in the Philippines, from November 13th to 18th, 2017.
Departs on 13th, returns on 19th.
Website of the World Xiangqi Federation

4-Dan Ishida Naohiro (aged 28) has been promoted to 5-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

Aug. 15, 2017

Game

59th Oui Tournament, Qualify Round
(opponent: 7-Dan Kitajima Tadao)

Promotion criteria met

Number of games won (100 wins in official games after becoming 4-Dan)

9-Dan Sato Yasumitsu (47 years old) achieved total 1000 wins in official games (Special Shogi Honor Prize, tokubetsu-shogi-eiyo-sho), winning a game on July 28th against 8-Dan Hirose Akihito in the 76th Ranking League (jun-i-sen)
He is the ninth player in shogi history to achieve 1000 wins, and is ranked 4th in the youngest age to achieve this record, at the age of 47 years and 9 months.

9-Dan Sato Yasumitsu's overall results (as of July 28, 2017)

1598 games (1000 wins - 598 losses)

List of all players who achieved 1000 wins

as of April 21st, 2017

Order	Player	Date of becoming 4-Dan	Total results at the time of achieving 1000 wins
			wins - losses	winning rate	Date of achievement	Age at the time	Years required for the achievement
1	15th Permanent Meijin Oyama Yasuharu*	Apr. 1, 1940	1000 - 455	0.687	Apr. 30, 1977	54 years 1 month	37 years 0 month
2	9-Dan Kato Hifumi	Aug. 1, 1954	1000 - 671	0.598	Aug. 21, 1989	49 years 7 months	35 years 0 month
3	16th Permanent Meijin Nakahara Makoto△	Oct. 1, 1965	1000 - 485	0.673	Ja. 10, 1992	44 years 4 months	26 years 3 months
4	Permanent Kisei Yonenaga Kunio*	Apr. 1, 1963	1000 - 657	0.604	Dec. 12, 1994	51 years 6 months	31 years 8 months
5	9-Dan Naito Kunio△	Oct. 1, 1958	1000 - 752	0.571	Sep. 18, 2000	60 years 10 months	41 years 11 months
6	9-Dan Ariyoshi Michio△	May 15, 1955	1000 - 843	0.543	Mar. 5, 2001	65 years 7 months	45 years 11 months
7	9-Dan Tanigawa Koji	Dec. 20, 1976	1000 - 532	0.653	Jul. 13, 2002	40 years 3 months	25 years 6 months
8	3-Crown Habu Yoshiharu	Dec. 18, 1985	1000 - 373	0.728	Dec. 20, 2007	37 years 2 months	22 years 0 month
9	9-Dan Sato Yasumitsu	Mar. 25, 1987	1000 - 598	0.625	Jul. 28, 2017	47 years 9 months	30 years 3 months

* Deceased
△ Retired

※ Number of total games may be more than the sum of wins and losses because it includes impasse games in title matches.
※ The record of the years required for the achievement may be affected by the frequency of official games, which varies among generations.
※ Years required for the achievement was counted starting from the promotion date to 4-Dan.