On the 17th, the 4th game of the 5th match of the 49th Shogi Championship, in which Takumi Ito (21) was challenging Shogi player Sota Fujii (21), who holds eight crowns, was on the draw in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture. The number one Shogi King, Fujii, won and made his first defense with a head-to-head record of 3 wins, 0 losses, and 1 match (draw). He extended his own record of consecutive wins in title matches to 21st season and maintained his eight titles.
Sota Fujii, the 8th champion, makes his first defense as a champion and smiles during the impressions match in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture on the 17th.
After the end of the match, Fujii Hakkan said, “The middle game of any shogi game is difficult, and there were some mistakes, but I’m happy that I was able to get a result.”
This series follows last year’s match against Ryuo, where he was challenged by Ito 7-dan, who is the same age. After playing shogi in the first game, Hachikan Fujii dominated from the second game onwards.
Fujii Hakkan has now defended three titles: Ryuo, Osho, and Kioh since last year’s Oza Tournament, where he won all the titles. Yoshiharu Hanyu, 9-dan, who won all seven titles at the time in 1996, was robbed of the title in the third Kiseisen, but he also surpassed that record.
◆Annual winning rate of 80%, 5/2 is 2nd in history
Sota Fujii, who defended his title as the King of Ki, became the first player in history to win the eight major titles, finishing this year with a personal best record of 46 wins, 8 losses, and an annual winning percentage of 8.52. He has the second-highest winning percentage in history while constantly playing against top players. Other professional players also expressed their amazement, asking, “How strong will he become?”
Sota Fujii holds a bouquet of flowers as he defends his title for the first time on the 17th in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture.
In the shogi world, as one’s status increases, the number of matches against strong players increases, making it difficult to achieve a high winning rate. The highest winning percentage of 80.55, achieved by Makoto Nakahara 16th Master (76) in 1967, was still a record before he won the title. This year’s Fujii Hakkou did not appear in any title matches, and is not close to that great record. This was also higher than the win rate of 80%, 3:6 in 1995, when Yoshiharu Hanyu 9th Dan (53) won all seven titles (at the time).
Kiyokazu Katsumata (54), who is well-versed in the records of the shogi world, said, “This is an amazing number considering the number of opponents he has played against.He has gained more stability by gaining experience against specialists in various strategies such as furi rooks and shogi. It’s clear that he’s gotten stronger in just one year.” Fujii Hakkan himself expressed his sense of fulfillment at the press conference after defending his title, saying, “It was a year in which I was able to play challenging shogi, especially in long games, and I was able to grow more than ever before.”
◆ List “last move” as one of your own tasks
On the other hand, he cited “how to fight in the second turn” as his own challenge. This year, he demonstrated unparalleled strength with a winning rate of 96% when playing first, but was more than 20% lower when playing second. However, in the 4th game of the Kioh tournament, he tried out a strategy he had never used before on the draw, and was constantly trying to improve. “Even if you look at past examples, there is no player who stopped growing at the age of 21.The bottom of Fujii’s eight crowns is yet to be seen,” says Katsumata, and even the eight crowns are still a passing point. Its strength is likely to accelerate further. (Kaoru Higuchi)