Shogi Sensation Fujii Becomes Youngest Competition Winner

February 17, 2018

Tokyo- Sota Fujii, a 15-year-and-six-month-old professional shogi player, won the 11th Asahi Cup shogi tournament on Saturday, becoming the youngest winner in a major competition other than title matches.

With the victory, Fujii was promoted to sixth dan, only 16 days after advancing to fifth dan.

Fujii defeated eighth-dan Akihito Hirose, 31, in the final match of the Asahi Cup, a "hayazashi" quick play tournament with time controls.

The youngest professional shogi player moved on to the final by beating 47-year-old shogi master Yoshiharu Habu in a semifinal held earlier on Saturday.

It was the first face-off between Fujii and Habu in an official match.

Habu won the "eisei" lifetime honor for all seven major titles, an unprecedented feat, in December last year and became the first shogi player to receive the People's Honor Award from the government on Monday.

The junior high school third-grader grabbed the spotlight last year by extending his unbeaten streak since he turned professional in October 2016 to 29 official matches, the longest on record.

The previous record holder was ninth-dan Hifumi Kato, 78, who achieved his first feat at the age of 15 years and 10 months. Jiji Press