Fujii, 15, named top-performing pro shogi player of FY 2017

March 14, 2018

Tokyo- Sota Fujii, the youngest professional shogi player, has secured top positions in all four performance categories for fiscal 2017 ending on March 31, becoming the third player to mark the accomplishment on record.

Fujii, 15, the fist junior high school student who climbed to sixth dan, led all other eligible players in terms of the number of games, the number of victories, the winning rate and the number of successive wins, the Japan Shogi Association said Tuesday.

As of the same day, he had a total of 70 matches, winning 59 and losing 11. As a result, his winning rate came to 84.3 percent.

Although Fujii may have three more games to play by the end of the fiscal year, he will certainly be the winningest player of the year even if he loses all of them, the association said.

Fujii has extended his winning streak to a record 29th game since his pro debut in December 2016.

Before him, ninth-dan Kunio Naito, 78, and Yoshiharu Habu, 47, who now holds the Ryuo and Kisei titles, had topped all four categories, according to data available since fiscal 1967.

"I'm pleased with my game-by-game effort resulting in the achievement," Fujii said. "I'll keep trying to play shogi better."

Habu said in a statement, "A player cannot top all the categories without performing stably throughout the year." "I'm looking forward to seeing (Fujii) establish more records from now on," he added. Jiji Press