History of Shogi - Trends in The World of Amateur Shogi

Trends in The World of Amateur Shogi

Shogi is also well-known among the general public (amateurs). Two different rating systems based dan and kyu ranks are used, one for amateurs and one for professionals, with the highest ranks at amateur level, 4-dan or 5-dan, being equivalent to 6-kyu at the professional level. In the past, there were games between amateurs and professionals, but these were generally special match-ups organised by newspapers or magazines, or instructional games at events or shogi courses.

However, sometimes there are amateurs with an ability to rival professionals, some of whom earn a living as shinken-shi (真剣師?), gamblers playing for stakes. Motoji Hanamura (花村元司?) made enough to live on as a shinken-shi, before taking the entrance exam and turning professional in 1944. He later challenged Yasuharu Ōyama in the meijin-sen, but did not manage to take the title of meijin from him. Jūmei Koike (小池重明?) was another shinken-shi, who beat one professional after another in special matches, and won the title of amateur meijin twice in a row, putting him ahead of the crowd in the amateur world. Later, due in part to the instigation of Ōyama, the then chairman of the general assembly of the Japanese Shogi Association (棋士総会?), a vote was held on whether to accept Koike among their ranks, but there were concerns about his behaviour, and the vote went against him. Although he never became a professional, after his death, television programmes and books telling his story were produced, and he now has more fans all over Japan than when he was alive.

In recent times, the gap in ability between strong amateurs and professionals continues to diminish, and there are even official professional tournaments in which those with the best results in amateur shogi contests (将棋のアマチュア棋戦?) can take part. Some amateurs, including Tsuneyoshi Kobayashi (小林庸俊?), Takashi Amano (天野高志?), Hirukawa (蛭川敦?), Kiriyama (桐山隆?), Masaki Endō (遠藤正樹?), Masakazu Hayasaki (早咲誠和?) and Atsumoto Yamada (山田敦幹?) have been called "pro killers", and recently two young players, Yukio Katō (加藤幸男?) and Tōru Shimizukami (清水上徹?) have been making waves in the amateur world.

The number of players who have left the pro qualifier leagues and gone on to have success as amateurs has increased. Shōji Segawa (瀬川晶司?) retired from the qualifier leagues due to age restrictions, but went on to compete as an amateur in professional matches. His performance in the Ginga title match (銀河戦?, ginga-sen) was particularly notable, and at one point he won over 70% of his matches with professionals. Segawa submitted a petition requesting entry to the professional ranks to the Japan Shogi Association, and was granted exceptional permission to take the entrance exam. He is the first person to become a professional after retiring from the pro qualifier leagues.

In 2006, the Shogi Association officially admitted the entrance of amateurs and women professionals to the ranks of professionals (正棋士?), and announced details of an entrance exam for the 4-dan level (entering the "free class" (フリークラス?) level of the professional ranking league (順位戦?)) and the third-level pro qualifier league (奨励会三段リーグ?). Unless exceptional permission is granted, applicant normally need to have experience in the pro qualifier leagues, and cannot become professionals if they have retired from the leagues, but given the reforms taking place in the Association, it would be by no means unlikely if another Shōji Segawa were to appear.