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 Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa ** Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivo ...

. He is a former holder of the

Eiō The is one of the eight major titles of professional shogi cosponsored by Fujiya Co. and the Japan Shogi Association (JSA). The tournament initially started out as a non-title tournament in 2015, but was upgraded to major title status in May 2 ...

and Ōza titles.

Early life and apprentice shogi professional

Nagase was born in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

on September 5, 1992. He learned how to play shogi at age six from his grandfather, and entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school in 2004 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 shogi professional . He was promoted to 1-dan in 2007 and participated in the 3-dan League for the first time in April 2008, finishing with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses. Nagase obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan on October 1, 2009, after winning the 45th 3-dan League (April September 2009) with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.

Shogi professional

In October 2012, Nagase won his first tournament since turning professional when he defeated Shingo Itō 2 games to none to win the 2nd , and followed that up by defeating

Tetsuya Fujimori is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 5- dan. Early life and apprenticeship Fujimori was born in Ōta, Tokyo on May 9, 1987. He learned shogi from his mother Natsuko, who is a retired women's shogi professional, at an early age and e ...

a few days later to win the 43rd by the score of 2 games to 1. Nagase's first appearance in a major title match came in June 2016 when he challenged

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 87th Kisei title. Nagase 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 the challenger tournament final to advance to the title match against Habu, and was actually leading the best-of-five match 2 games to 1 before losing the final two games. In December 2017, Nagase defeated Reo Kurosawa in the 43rd

Kiō is one of the eight major title tournaments in professional shogi. The word means the " king of the board" (i.e. it is a combination of the kanji characters for and ). Overview The tournament started in 1974 as a continuation of the () held ...

challenger match to earn the right to challenge Akira Watanabe for the title. Nagase, however, was unable to capture his first major title, losing the match to Wantabe 3 games to 2 in March 2018. In February 2019, Nagase defeated

Tatsuya Sugai is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 8- dan. He is a former holder of the Ōi title. Early life, amateur shogi and apprenticeship Tatsuya Suga was born on April 17, 1992, in Mitsu, Okayama. He learned how to play shogi from his fathe ...

2 games to 1 in the challenger playoff round for the 4th

tournament to earn the right to challenge

Taichi Takami is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 7- dan. He is a former Eiō title holder. Early life and apprenticeship Taichi Takami was born in Yokohama on July 12, 1993. He learned shogi from his father when he was in kindergarten, and was l ...

for the title. In the AprilMay 2019 title match, Nagase defeated Takami 4 games to none to win his first major title. In July 2019, Nagase defeated the reigning Mejin

Masayuki Toyoshima is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9- dan. He is a former holder of the Ryūō, Meijin, Ōi, Kisei and Eiō titles. Early life and apprenticeship Toyoshima was born in Ichinomiya, Aichi on April 30, 1990. He entered the Japan Sho ...

in the final of the challenger tournament for the 67th Ōza title to earn the right to challenge the defending Ōza

Shintarō Saitō is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 8- dan. He is a former Ōza title holder. Early life and apprentice professional Shintarō Saitō was born on April 21, 1993, in Nara. He learned how to play the game from reading books written by ...

. On October 1, 2019, Nagase won Game 3 of the 67th Ōza title match to complete a three game swept of Saitō. The win not only gave Nagase his first Ōza title and made him a 2-crown major title holder for the first time, but also meant he satisfied the promotion criteria for the rank of 8-dan. Nagase was unable to defend his

title in 2020, losing the 5th

title match to challenger

on September 21, 2020, 4 games to 3. The two players actually needed nine games to determine the best-of-seven match because two of the games ended in

impasse A bargaining impasse () occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked. An impasse is almost invariably mutually harmful, either as a result of direct action which may be taken such as a ...

. Nagase successfully defended his Ōza title in October 2020 by defeating

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 ...

in the 68th Ōza title match 3 games to 2. The win also meant that Nagase satisfied the criteria for promotion to 9-dan. Nagase challenged the reigning Ōshō Akira Watanabe for the 70th Ōshō title in January to March 2021, but lost the match 4 games to 2. In SeptemberOctober 2021, Nagase successfully defended his Ōza title by defeating

Kazuki Kimura is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9- dan. He is a former Ōi title holder. He is also the oldest player to win a major title for the first time. Early life, amateur shogi and apprenticeship Kimura was born in Yotsukaidō, Chiba P ...

3 games to 1. In JuneJuly 2022, Nagase challenged

Sōta Fujii is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9- dan. He is the current holder of the Kiō, Kisei, Meijin, Ōi, Ōshō, Ōza and Ryūō titles, and a former holder of the Eiō title. He is the youngest person to be awarded professional st ...

for the 93rd Kisei title, but lost the match 3 games to 1. Later that same year, Nagase successfully defended his Ōza title by defeating 3 games to 1 in the 70th Ōza match (AugustOctober 2022). In October 2023, Nagase was defeated by in the 71st Ōza title match (AugustOctober 2023), losing 3 games to 1. In February 2024, Nagase and met yet again, this time in the championship game of the 17th , with Nagase coming out victorious to win the tournament for the first time. In September 2024, Nagase challenged in 72nd Ōza title match in a rematch of the previous year, but Nagase lost the match 3 games to none. In JanuaryMarch 2025, Nagase challenged for the 74th Ōshō title, but lost the match 4 games to 1. Nagase and Fujii met once again in 83rd Meijin title match (AprilMay 2025), with Fujii defending his Meijin crown by a score of 4 games to 1.

Promotion history

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

: September 29, 2004 * 4-dan: October 1, 2009 * 5-dan: April 24, 2012 * 6-dan: June 17, 2013 * 7-dan: November 22, 2017 * 8-dan: October 1, 2019 * 9-dan: October 14, 2020

Titles and other championships

Nagase has appeared in a major title match fifteen times and has won five titles; in addition, he has won three non-major-title championships during his career.

Awards and honors

Nagase received the JSA's

Annual Shogi Award 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 ...

s for "Most Consecutive Games Won" for the April 2011March 2012 shogi year; "Best New Player", "Best Winning Percentage" and "Most Consecutive Games Won" for the April 2012March 2013 shogi year; "Fighting Spirit”and“Most Consecutive Games Won”for the April 2019March 2020 shogi year; and "Fighting Spirit" for the April 2024March 2025 shogi year.

Year-end prize money and game fee ranking

Nagase has finished in the "Top 10" of the JSA's six times since turning professional: 4th place with

JPY The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. Th ...

46,780,000 in earnings for 2019; 3rd place with JPY 46,210,000 in earnings for 2020; 4th place with JPY 46,680,000 in earnings for 2021; 4th place with JPY 48,210,000 in earnings for 2022; 3rd place with JPY 35,090,000 in earnings for 2023; and 3rd place with JPY 30,260,000 in earnings for 2024.

References

External links

*ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Nagase, Takuya
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagase, Takuya 1992 births Japanese shogi players Japan Shogi Association players Living people People from Yokohama Professional shogi players from Kanagawa Prefecture Eiō Ōza (shogi) Kakogawa Seiryū Shinjin-Ō