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 6- dan.

Early life, amateur shogi and apprenticeship

Watanabe was born on January 23, 1986, in

Ōi, Saitama was a List of towns in Japan, town located in Iruma District, Saitama, Iruma District, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 47,276 and a population density of 6,014.76 persons per km2. The total area was ...

(currently

Fujimino, Saitama is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 114,566 in 53,053 households and a population density of 7800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Fujimino is located in southern S ...

). He learned how to play shogi from his father, and was a well-known strong amateur player as a teenager, performing well in a number of national tournaments.　In 2005, he won the 34th , becoming the youngest person to do so up until that time at the age of 19 years and 3 months. Wanatabe's victory also meant he qualified to participate in the 24th where he continued his good play, winning three straight games against shogi professionals before finally being eliminated from the tournament. Later that same year, he took the entrance exam for the

Japan Shogi Association The , or JSA, is the primary organizing body for professional shogi in Japan. The JSA sets the professional calendar, negotiates sponsorship and media promotion deals, helps organize tournaments and title matches, publishes shogi-related materia ...

's apprentice school and was accepted at the rank of apprentice professional 1- dan as a student of shogi professional

Hiromitsu Kanki is a Japanese retired professional shogi player who achieved the rank of 7- dan. He is known for wearing colorful suits on television programs as a shogi expert. Shogi professional Promotion history The promotion history for Kanki was as follo ...

. Yoshida was promoted to apprentice professional 3-dan in the fall of 2007 and finished the 42nd 3-dan League (October 2007March 2008) with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses; although his score was the same as the top two finishers in the league, his lower league seed meant his result was only good enough to earn him a promotion point towards professional status. The following season, Watanabe earned a second promotion point after finishing the 43rd 3-dan League (April 2008September 2008) in third place, once again with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses. This gave him to option to obtain full professional status and corresponding rank of 4-dan as a " Free Class" player. Wantabe elected to become professional this way and was officially promoted to 4-dan in October 2008.

Shogi professional

Watanabe was promoted from the Free Class to the Meijin Class C2 league in 2011. Watnabe finished the 77th Meijin Class C2 league (April 2017March 2018) with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses, earning a third demotion point which meant automatic demotion to " Free Class" play.

Promotion history

The promotion history for Watanabe is as follows: * 1- dan: September 2005 * 4-dan: October 1, 2008 * 5-dan: October 22, 2012 * 6-dan: May 16, 2022

Personal life

Watanabe's

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries and cultures that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" ...

is "Yoshida" (). He took his wife's

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

"Watanabe" after getting married in November 2015. His wife is a

competitive karuta is an official Japanese card game that uses a deck of ''uta-garuta'' cards to play karuta, within the format and rules set by the All Japan Karuta Association. Overview Competitive karuta has been around since the start of the 19th century b ...

player, whose holds the "lifetime queen" title and is a director of the All Japan Karuta Association.

References

External links

*ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Watanabe, Masakazu
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Masakazu Japanese shogi players Japan Shogi Association players Free class shogi players Living people People from Fujimino, Saitama Shogi players from Saitama Prefecture 1986 births