Official News Release

We hereby announce that 9-Dan Hiroyuki Miura will not take part in the 29th Ryuou 7-game Title Match starting at the Tenryu-ji Temple in Kyoto on October 15th & 16th.
According to the regulations, 9-Dan Tadahisa Maruyama, who was Miura's opponent in the challenger deciding match, has been promoted to the challenger, and will play against Ryuou Akira Watanabe.
The Japan Shogi Association decided on October 12th to hold 9-Dan Miura under punitive suspension from all games until December 31st, 2016.
The replacement of the challenger has been also agreed by the sponsoring Yomiuri Newspaper.

【Comment by Chairman Koji Tanigawa】
We apologize to the related parties and the shogi fans for causing the troubles and inconveniences. We hope that the title match games will be historically great ones.

【Comment by 9-Dan Tadahisa Maruyama】
Although I do not personally support the decision by the Association, I will do my best when playing this title match of Ryuou Championship, which is the highest ranked tournament in the shogi world.

Shoureikai 3-Dan Sota Fujii and Takahiro Ohashi have obtained the right to become 4-Dan, after playing the 18th and the 19th games of the 59th Shoureikai 3-Dan League (April ~ September 2016) on September 3rd at Shogi Kaikan. The final results are 13 wins and 5 losses for Fujii, and 12 wins and 6 losses for Ohashi. They become 4-Dan on October 1st.
The age of Fujii at the time of promotion to 4-Dan will be 5 months younger than the current record of 14 years and 7 months by 9-Dan Hifumi Kato. Fujii becomes the youngest professional player in the age of 14 years and 2 months, as well as the fifth junior high school student professional player following 9-Dan Hifumi Kato, 9-Dan Koji Tanigawa, 3-Crown (Oui, Ouza, and Kisei) Yoshiharu Habu, and Ryuou Akira Watanabe. He is also the first professional player of the 21st century, who was born in 2002. For more detail, see the records listed below.
The 3rd player in the league was Shoureikai 3-Dan Takayuki Kuroda.

Sota Fujii, Professional Player ID = 307

Date of birth

July 19th, 2002 (14 years old)

Hometown

Seto city, Aichi

Currently resides in

Same as above

Pupil of

7-Dan Masataka Sugimoto

Enrollment in Shoureikai

September 2012

Enrollment in 3-Dan League

April 2016 (from the 59th league)

Favorite strategy

Bishop Exchange

Background of starting playing shogi

Learned from hes grandmother when he was 5 years old

Educational career

Currently in the 2nd grade in the Junior High School Attached to Nagoya University, Faculty of Education

Achievements

Winner of the Mate Problem Solving Championship two times in a row in 2015 and 2016

Comment

"I wanted to decide my promotion today. I am happy that I could. 3-Dan League looked very different from lower classes. There is no professional player whom I see as a target. I want to become a very strong player, seeing shogi as traditional culture."

Takahiro Ohashi, Professional Player ID = 308

Date of birth

September 22nd ,1992 (23 years old)

Hometown

Shingu city, Wakayama

Currently resides in

Osaka city, Osaka

Pupil of

7-Dan Kazuharo Shoshi

Enrollment in Shoureikai

September 2006

Enrollment in 3-Dan League

October 2010 (from the 48th league)

Favorite strategy

Side Pawn Picker

Background of starting playing shogi

Started learning with his father when his was in the 4th grade in elementary school

Achievements

Ranked 2nd in the 46th Rookie Championship in October 2015

Comment

"I could improve my skills pretty much in the 3-Dan League, and had a very good experience. I am happy that I achieved my aim of promoting to 4-Dan. My next aim is winning a title. I hope to play many games that can draw attention from the shogi fans."

Players who passed 3-Dan League in only one term (after 1987)

Term	Year	Name	Age	Results			Starting position	Number of players
1	1987, 1st half	Daisuke Nakagawa	18	13	-	3	-	17
1	1987, 1st half	Manabu Senzaki	17	12	-	4	-	17
3	1988, 1st half	Hisashi Ogura	20	16	-	2	18	21
3	1988, 1st half	Nobuyuki Yashiki	16	14	-	4	20	21
12	1992, 2nd half	Takeshi Kawakami	20	15	-	3	32	32
24	1998, 2nd half	Ayumu Matsuo	19	14	-	4	23	29
53	2013, 1st half	Tatsuya Sanmaido	20	14	-	4	31	35
59	2016, 1st half	Sota Fujii	14	13	-	5	27	29

Ten Youngest 4-Dan Promotions

	Name	Date of birth	Date of promotion	Age
1	Sota Fujii	2002/7/19	2016/10/1	14 years 2 months
2	Hifumi Kato	1940/1/1	1954/8/1	14 years 7 months
3	Koji Tanigawa	1962/4/6	1976/12/20	14 years 8 months
4	Yoshiharu Habu	1970/9/27	1985/12/18	15 years 2 months
5	Akira Watanabe	1984/4/23	2000/4/1	15 years 11 months
6	Yuki Sasaki	1994/8/5	2010/10/1	16 years 1 month
7	Yasuaki Tsukada	1964/11/16	1981/3/5	16 years 3 months
8	Koru Abe	1994/10/25	2011/4/1	16 years 5 months
9	Toshiyuki Moriuchi	1970/10/10	1987/5/13	16 years 7 months
10	Nobuyuki Yashiki	1972/1/18	1988/10/1	16 years 8 months

5-Dan Ryosuke Nakamura (30 years old) has been promoted to 6-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

September 1st, 2016

Game

The 75the Ranking League, C2-class
(opponent: 6-Dan Takehiro Ohira)

Ground of promotion

By the number of winning games (120 official games after becoming 5-Dan)

Ms. Sakura Ishimoto (17 years old) of Kansai Kenshu-kai, B1-class submitted an application for Ladies Professional.
This makes her become Ladies Professional 2-kyu on September 1st, 2016.
Although new players start from Ladies 3-kyu in principle, Ms. Ishimoto has already entered the main round in the 3rd and the 4th Ricoh Ladies Ouza Championship, and therefore has qualified for Ladies 2-kyu, meeting the third condition described below.

Name

Sakura Ishimoto

Date of birth

January 27th, 1999 (17 years old)

Educational career

Currently in 3rd grade in Osaka Gakugei High School

Currently resides in

Suita city, Osaka

Pupil of

7-Dan Nobuo Mori

Kenshu-kai

B1-class of Kansai Kenshu-kai

Hobbies

Listening to music

Background of starting playing shogi

Started to learn in a shogi class, after seeing her friends playing shogi in the class room when she was 4th grade in elementary school.

Achievements

Winner of the 33rd Junior High School Tournament, Girls Class (2012)

Conditions for a Ladies 3-kyu to become 2-kyu

1. The number of winning games is as many as that of the participated tournaments in 1 year.
2. The number of winning games is 3/4 time as many as that of the participated tournaments in 2 years.
3. Conditions for becoming Ladies 1-kyu in "Ladies Professional Promotion Regulations" are met.

If none of the above conditions are met within 2 years, the rank of Ladies 3-kyu becomes invalid, in which case one can move back to C2 class of Kenshu-kai.

7-Dan Kazuharu Shoshi participated in the foreign players class of the international Xiangqi tournament held in Guangdong, China from September 5th to 7th. (Two Japanese players participated.)
He left Japan on September 4th, and returned on the 10th.

Shoshi also participated in the 17th Asian Team Tournament held in 11月28日から12月2日までKuching, Malaysia from November 28th to December 2nd.
He left Japan on November 27th, and returned on December 3rd.

Official website of the Asian Xiangqi Federation
http://www.asianxiangqi.org/main.htm

7-Dan Kenji Kanzaki (52 years old) has been promoted to 8-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

August 15th, 2016

Game

The 10th Asahi Cup Shogi Open, 1st Qualify
(opponent: 7-Dan Hiroshi Kobayashi)

Ground of promotion

By the number of winning games (190 games after promotion to 7-Dan)

Ladies 2-kyu Emina Yamaguchi (22 years old) has been promoted to Ladies 1-kyu, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

August 13th, 2016

Game

The 10th Mynavi Open, Qualify Round
(opponent: Ladies 1-Dan Saya Nakazawa)

Ground of promotion

Entering the Main Round of Mynavi Open

Ladies 1-Dan Aya Fujita (29 years old) has been promoted to Ladies 2-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

August 13th, 2016

Game

The 10th Mynavi Open, Qualify Round
(opponent: Ladies 4-Dan Chikako Nagasawa)

Ground of promotion

By the number of winning games (60 games after promotion to Ladies 1-Dan)

The 1st Kyorindo Cup, Japan-China Friendship Junior Shogi Championship, organized by Beijin Shogi Club and jointly sponsored by Kyorindo Pharmacy, was held on August 6th and 7th in Beijin, China.
The championship was held in two classes for elementary school students and the younger (25 participants), and junior high school students and the older (29 participants). Participating players were students of the teachers from various regions in China, who work for shogi promotion. One player participated from Japan as well.
The winner of the younger class receives a special privilege of being invited to the East Division of the 4th Sanaru Cup, Elementary School Meijin Tournament held in March next year.
From Japan, 9-Dan Teruichi Aono, 7-Dan Eiji Iijima, and Mr. Masayuki Atsumi, the chairman of Kyorindo participated. Collaborators from the International Shogi Popularization Society (ISPS) also joined in Beijin, kindly helping with translation and so forth, making the tournament successful.

Opening Ceremony. On the left is Mr. Li Minsheng, the chairman of Beijin Shogi Club, giving the opening speech. On the stage are, from the left, Mr. Kita and Mr. Kohari from ISPS, Kyorindo Chairman Mr. Atsumi, 9-Dan Aono, 7-Dan Iijima, and Mr. Hakamada from ISPS.

Younger class tournament

Teaching games by 9-Dan Aono

Teaching games by 7-Dan Iijima

Final game of the elder class tournament. Lin Yanxing (Left, from Beijin region) won the tournament by beating Ao Xuedi (Right, from Beijin region). 7-Dan Iijima performed the game notation.

Final game of the younger class tournament. Shen Tianyi (Right, from Shanghai region) won the tournament by beating Zheng Yiheng (Left, from Shanghai region). Shen will participate in the East Division of the 42th Sanaru Cup, Elementary School Meijin Tournament next year.

9-Dan Aono, commentating on the final game of the elder class tournament. On the left is Mr. Hakamada as translator.

Four top players of the younger class tournament

Four top players of the elder class tournament

From 17th to 21st of August, Nederlandse Shogi Bond (Dutch Shogi Association) will host European Shogi Championship/World Open Shogi Championship 2016. The venue will be the European Go and Cultural Centre in Amstelveen.

There have been already more than 100 registration so far, including the strongest players and champions from European countries.

Professional players and other important guests are also invited.

• JSA 9-Dan, Teruichi Aono
• JSA 7-Dan, Akio Ishikawa
• JSA Ladies 2-Dan, and Nekomado CEO, Madoka Kitao
• 81Dojo director, Tomohide Kawasaki (Hidetchi)

You can find more information and a registration form on the website of the tournament: www.shogi2016.eu