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 9- dan.

Early life, amateur shogi and apprenticeship

Namekata was born in

Hirosaki is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 163,639 in 71,044 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a jōkamachi, ca ...

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

on December 30, 1973. As a sixth-grade elementary school student, he finished third in the 10th in 1985. After graduating elementary school in 1986, he entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 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 ...

under the guidance of Yasuharu Ōyama as a twelve year old, and was awarded professional status and the rank of 4-dan on October 1, 1993, at the age of 19.

Shogi professional

In 2015, Namekata finished tied for first with Akira Watanabe,

Toshiaki Kubo is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9- dan. He is a former Ōshō and Kiō title holder.　 Early life Kubo was born in Kakogawa, Hyōgo on August 27, 1975. He learned shogi when he was about four years old, and at the encouragement ...

and

Akihito Hirose is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-Dan (rank)#Modern usage in shogi, dan. He is a former :Ryūō and Ōi (shogi), Ōi title holder, and is also the first shogi professional to win a major title while attending university. Early l ...

in the Class A league for the right to challenge to Habu for the 73rd Meijin title. Each player finished league play with 6 wins and 3 losses, so a playoff was held to determine the challenger. A step-ladder playoff system with the player's league seed determining their playoff seed was held. Namaketa needed to only win one game to become the challenger since he was the highest league seed of the four, whereas the two lowest seeds Kubo and Hirose needed to win three games each to become challenger. Kubo beat Hirose and then Watanabe in rounds one and two respectively to face Namekata in the final game of the playoff. Namekata then defeated Kubo to win the playoff. In the title match, Namekata and Habu were tied after two games before Habu won the next three games to defend his title 4 games to 1. On January 29, 2018, Namekata defeated

Yasuaki Murayama is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 8- dan. Early life, amateur shogi and apprenticeship Yasuaki Murayama was born on May 9, 1984, in Hino, Tokyo. He learned how to play shogi from his grandfather when he was 5 years old, and won the ...

in a round 2 preliminary game of the 89th Kisei Tournament to win his 600th official game as a professional.

Promotion history

Namekata's promotion history is as follows: * 6-

: 1986 * 1-dan: 1990 * 4-dan: October 1, 1993 * 5-dan: October 1, 1995 * 6-dan: June 21, 1999 * 7-dan: April 1, 2004 * 8-dan: April 1, 2007 * 9-dan: November 14, 2019

Titles and other championships

Namekata has been the challenger for a major title twice, but was unsuccessful both times. His first appearance was in 2013 when defeated

Yasumitsu Satō is a Japanese professional shogi player from Yawata City in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, ranked 9- dan. He is a former president of the Japan Shogi Association as well as former holder of the Ryūō, Meijin, Oshō, Kisei, Kiō major titles. He ...

to become the challenger to

Yoshiharu Habu is a professional shogi player and a chess FIDE Master. He is a former holder of the Ryūō, Meijin, Ōi, Ōza, Kiō, Ōshō and Kisei major titles. He was the first person to simultaneously hold seven major professional shogi titles ...

for the 54th Ōi Match, but he ended losing to Habu 4 games to 1. Namekata has won two non-title shogi tournaments. He won the tournament for top shogi professionals under the age of 30 for the year 1995 and the for the year 2007.

Awards and honors

Namekata was awarded the Japan Shogi Association

Annual Shogi Awards The Annual Shogi Awards (将棋大賞 ''shōgi taishō'') are a number of prizes awarded yearly by the Japan Shogi Association to professional and amateur shogi players who have achieved particular success. The first Annual Shogi Awards were pre ...

for "Best New Player" in 1995 and "Best Winning Percentage" in 1998.

Year-end prize money and game fee ranking

Namekata has finished in the "Top 10" of the JSA's four times since turning professional: ninth in 2008 with JPY 20,680,000 in earnings, seventh in 2013 with JPY 18,210,000 in earnings, sixth in 2014 with JPY 20,900,000 in earnings, and fifth in 2015 with JPY 26,890,000 in earnings.

JSA director

Namekata was elected to the Japan Shogi Association's board of directors as a non-executive director in June 2023.

References

External links

* ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Namekata, Hisashi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Namekata, Hisashi 1973 births Japanese shogi players Japan Shogi Association players Living people Shogi players from Aomori Prefecture People from Hirosaki