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 player ...

ranked 9- dan. He is the current holder of the Ōza title and a former holder of the Eiō title.

Early life

Nagase was born in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

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 term used in modern martial arts as well as in tea ceremony, flower arranging, Go, shogi, academic tests and other similar activities to designate various grades, levels or degrees of proficiency or experience. In Mandarin Ch ...

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 2009September 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 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

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for the 87th Kisei title. Nagase defeated Yasuaki Murayama 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 is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 6-Dan (rank)#Modern usage in shogi, dan. Early life, amateur shogi and apprentice professional Kurosawa was born on March 7, 1992, in Kumagaya, Saitama. He learned how to play shogi at when he was ...

in the 43rd Kiō 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 2 games to 1 in the challenger playoff round for the 4th Eiō 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 education Taichi Takami was born in Yokohama on July 12, 1993. He learned shogi from his father when he was in kindergarten, and was lat ...

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 in the final of the challenger tournament for the 67th Ōza title to earn the right to challenge the defending Ōza Shintarō Saitō. 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 Eiō title in 2020, losing the 5th Eiō title match to challenger Masayuki Toyoshima 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. 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 encouragemen ...

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 Kimura was born in Yotsukaidō, Chiba Prefecture on June 23, 1973. He learne ...

3 games to 1. In JuneJuly 2022, Nagase challenged Sōta Fujii 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).

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 eleven times and has won five titles; in addition, he has won two non-major-title championships during his career.

Awards and honors

Nagase received the JSA's for "Most Consecutive Games Won" in 2011 and 2013. He also received the awards for "Best New Player" and "Best Winning Percentage" in 2012, and the “Fighting Spirit” and “Most Consecutive Games Won” awards in 2020.

Year-end prize money and game fee ranking

Nagase has finished in the "Top 10" of the JSA's three 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 (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and th ...

46,780,000 in earnings for 2019, and 3rd place with JPY 46,210,000 in earnings for 2020 and 4th place with JPY 48,210,000 in earnings for 2021.

References

External links

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