Eliciting both surprise and admiration across the nation, Sota Fujii, a 14-year-old shogi player, unbeaten since he turned professional just last October, has set an all-time record of 29 consecutive victories. Although the world of shogi, a board game often described as Japanese chess, has entered an age in which even top professionals cannot beat computer software programs based on artificial intelligence, Fujii's accomplishment has demonstrated that shogi matches between humans still strongly captivate and move people. What the youngest pro shogi player has achieved has the potential of rousing broad interest among people in the game and revitalizing the shogi community, which was rocked last year by allegations that one of its top players cheated with the assistance of software.
Fujii started learning shogi at the age of 5. When he entered the first grade he began attending a shogi class where children aspiring to become professional players study. Those wishing to turn pro usually join Shorei-kai, a society under the Japan Shogi Association aimed at training young aspiring players, and must achieve a sufficient number of wins. If one attains the fourth dan (rank) before turning 26, one can become a pro player. Professionals are ranked between fourth dan, the lowest, and ninth dan, the highest.
Fujii became the youngest professional shogi player ever at the age of 14 years and two months last October, breaking the record set by Hifumi Kato, a ninth-dan player, 62 years ago. He also became the fifth player to turn professional while still a junior high school student. Two months later, he beat Kato — now 77 — in his professional debut. As if symbolizing the arrival of a new epoch, Kato ended his career spanning 63 years last week after suffering a loss to 23-year-old fourth-dan Satoshi Takano.