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The Schoolboy Master of Shogi Chess
July 1, 2017
From The Times of London:
He likes running and geography but he’s not good at ball games. His mother is a housewife and his father a typical company “salaryman”. In most ways, Sota Fujii is a typical Japanese schoolboy, but he is also a national hero, enjoying an acclaim and personal popularity usually reserved for athletes and sumo wrestling champions.
Sota, 14, is a master of shogi, a Japanese variant of chess, and is rapidly emerging as one of the most remarkable players ever to master the complex and ancient game. Not only is he the youngest professional shogi player in its history but last week he set an all-time record by achieving a 29-match run of victories.
He went professional last December and in his debut match he defeated one of shogi’s most famous players, Hifumi Kato, 77, a former prodigy who turned professional in 1954 and was the previous record holder.
As the first professional player born in the 21st century, Sota is also notable for the use that he makes in training of artificial intelligence computer programs, which have been defeating the best human players for several years. Shogi is played on an 81-square board, with flat wooden counters each bearing a Chinese character. As well as familiar pieces such as kings, bishops and knights, the player manipulates jewels, lancers and gold and silver generals. Like chess, it requires a combination of precise technique and intuition.
Although he has not yet won a major tournament, Sota’s success is fostering a shogi boom and a resurgence of enthusiasm among Japanese youth for a game that was dwindling in popularity.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/w...hess-fpf0gmcr0
From The Japan Times, June 21, 2017:
Youngest ‘shogi’ pro Sota Fujii matches longest winning streak with 28th victory
OSAKA – The nation’s youngest professional shogi player, 14-year-old Sota Fujii, won his 28th straight match on Wednesday to equal the all-time winning streak in official matches of the traditional chess-like game.
Fujii, a junior high school student who holds the rank of fourth dan, has gone undefeated since December. The shogi star is now on a par with Hiroshi Kamiya, a 56-year-old eighth-dan player who set the record for consecutive wins in 1987.
“I know that many people, including those from my hometown, are supporting me. It helped motivate me, and I’m thankful for their support,” Fujii said at a news conference after the match. “I’m glad that I was able to meet their expectations today.”
As for the next match, he said: “It’s a big stage, and the opponent is formidable. I want to stay focused and do my best.”
In his latest make-or-break match during a preliminary round of a tournament played in Osaka, Fujii defeated 25-year-old Shingo Sawada, ranked a sixth dan. It was their second match, following a close game that ended with a win by Fuji.
Fujii has not lost a match since his professional debut in December against 77-year-old Hifumi Kato, a ninth-dan player. His win came two months after he became the youngest professional player ever at the age of 14 years and 2 months.
Last Saturday, Fujii beat 19-year-old Hayata Fujioka, an amateur and freshman at the University of Tokyo, extending his winning streak to 27.
A day before Fujii’s historic match on Wednesday, Kato, one of the most famous shogi players, fell to 23-year-old fourth-dan Satoshi Takano. Kato retired after the match.
Kato, known as “Hifumin” by his fans, started playing shogi 63 years ago and has been a well known face on TV.
Fujii has also raised the profile of shogi and inspired younger people to take up the board game.
Shogi is a strategy game similar to chess, as its objective is to checkmate the opponent’s king. Shogi can be more complicated than its Western counterpart because players can deploy captured pieces from opponents back into the game as part of their own.
The number of children attending shogi schools in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area rose to 502 in May from 366 a year earlier, according to the Japan Shogi Association.
In the Kansai region, the number of young players taking instruction rose by about 50 percent this year, compared with the average, the association said.
Kai Nagasawa, 10, who joined a shogi school run by Fujii’s teacher in Nagoya in January said, “Fujii, who ranks fourth dan, is so strong and I admire him.”
Professionals rankings include a scale starting from fourth dan and reach to ninth dan, the highest level.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201.../#.WVcgkzOZORs
July 1, 2017
From The Times of London:
He likes running and geography but he’s not good at ball games. His mother is a housewife and his father a typical company “salaryman”. In most ways, Sota Fujii is a typical Japanese schoolboy, but he is also a national hero, enjoying an acclaim and personal popularity usually reserved for athletes and sumo wrestling champions.
Sota, 14, is a master of shogi, a Japanese variant of chess, and is rapidly emerging as one of the most remarkable players ever to master the complex and ancient game. Not only is he the youngest professional shogi player in its history but last week he set an all-time record by achieving a 29-match run of victories.
He went professional last December and in his debut match he defeated one of shogi’s most famous players, Hifumi Kato, 77, a former prodigy who turned professional in 1954 and was the previous record holder.
As the first professional player born in the 21st century, Sota is also notable for the use that he makes in training of artificial intelligence computer programs, which have been defeating the best human players for several years. Shogi is played on an 81-square board, with flat wooden counters each bearing a Chinese character. As well as familiar pieces such as kings, bishops and knights, the player manipulates jewels, lancers and gold and silver generals. Like chess, it requires a combination of precise technique and intuition.
Although he has not yet won a major tournament, Sota’s success is fostering a shogi boom and a resurgence of enthusiasm among Japanese youth for a game that was dwindling in popularity.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/w...hess-fpf0gmcr0
From The Japan Times, June 21, 2017:
Youngest ‘shogi’ pro Sota Fujii matches longest winning streak with 28th victory
OSAKA – The nation’s youngest professional shogi player, 14-year-old Sota Fujii, won his 28th straight match on Wednesday to equal the all-time winning streak in official matches of the traditional chess-like game.
Fujii, a junior high school student who holds the rank of fourth dan, has gone undefeated since December. The shogi star is now on a par with Hiroshi Kamiya, a 56-year-old eighth-dan player who set the record for consecutive wins in 1987.
“I know that many people, including those from my hometown, are supporting me. It helped motivate me, and I’m thankful for their support,” Fujii said at a news conference after the match. “I’m glad that I was able to meet their expectations today.”
As for the next match, he said: “It’s a big stage, and the opponent is formidable. I want to stay focused and do my best.”
In his latest make-or-break match during a preliminary round of a tournament played in Osaka, Fujii defeated 25-year-old Shingo Sawada, ranked a sixth dan. It was their second match, following a close game that ended with a win by Fuji.
Fujii has not lost a match since his professional debut in December against 77-year-old Hifumi Kato, a ninth-dan player. His win came two months after he became the youngest professional player ever at the age of 14 years and 2 months.
Last Saturday, Fujii beat 19-year-old Hayata Fujioka, an amateur and freshman at the University of Tokyo, extending his winning streak to 27.
A day before Fujii’s historic match on Wednesday, Kato, one of the most famous shogi players, fell to 23-year-old fourth-dan Satoshi Takano. Kato retired after the match.
Kato, known as “Hifumin” by his fans, started playing shogi 63 years ago and has been a well known face on TV.
Fujii has also raised the profile of shogi and inspired younger people to take up the board game.
Shogi is a strategy game similar to chess, as its objective is to checkmate the opponent’s king. Shogi can be more complicated than its Western counterpart because players can deploy captured pieces from opponents back into the game as part of their own.
The number of children attending shogi schools in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area rose to 502 in May from 366 a year earlier, according to the Japan Shogi Association.
In the Kansai region, the number of young players taking instruction rose by about 50 percent this year, compared with the average, the association said.
Kai Nagasawa, 10, who joined a shogi school run by Fujii’s teacher in Nagoya in January said, “Fujii, who ranks fourth dan, is so strong and I admire him.”
Professionals rankings include a scale starting from fourth dan and reach to ninth dan, the highest level.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201.../#.WVcgkzOZORs