2023.12.12
Historical First in Kido-kai Shogi Club; Two Female Shogi Players Enroll
- Saki Miyazawa, Aya Uchiyama
“I want to win women’s titles” : Saki Miyazawa (4th year, Faculty of Law)
“I want to move forward step by step”: Aya Uchiyama (1st year, Faculty of Science and Engineering)
Saki Miyazawa (4th year, Faculty of Law) of the Kido-kai Shogi Club became a women’s professional shogi player (ranked 2-kyu) in July this year. In the Shogi Club, Aya Uchiyama (1st year, Faculty of Science and Engineering) is already active as a women’s professional shogi player (ranked 1-dan). It is the first time in the club’s history that women’s professional shogi players are enrolled. Although the two professionals are not allowed to participate in tournaments of amateur students, they still participate in club activities, such as supporting the club’s team matches and playing online between club members. Here are their future visions and goals as shogi players, as well as the appeal of shogi.
“Reading many moves ahead and pursuing the depth”
Saki Miyazawa, a women’s professional shogi player ranked 2-kyu
“I love shogi. I want to do something related to shogi as a career.” As of July 1, 2023, she became a women’s professional shogi player. “I’m not very good at things, and it’s difficult for me to balance shogi and schoolwork. So, I decided to become a professional shogi player during my fourth year at university (when most students decide on their career path),” she reveals.
Since July, in addition to improving her skills, she has been doing more work related to the spread of shogi, such as coaching fans for games and explaining shogi records. “I’m getting used to it little by little,” she smiles. She also finds the work of spreading shogi challenging.
When she was in kindergarten, she learned how to play shogi from her father. During her elementary and junior high school days, she strengthened her skills by attending the children’s shogi school of the Japan Shogi Association, as well as classes of her master, Makoto Tobe ranked 7-dan. As she became stronger, she learned “attacking shogi,” and now her specialty is to play aggressively, starting with her favorite static rook strategy. “It’s important to be good at defending, but it’s also difficult to win without attacking,” she said, citing her challenges of the amount of “reading” to see moves ahead and the pursuit of depth.
“I will keep in mind to have fun”
The skills to correctly judge the situation ahead are required, and it is also necessary to accumulate experience to do so. She shows a motivation to envision various situations and increase the variety of her reading skills.
There is something that she always values when she faces shogi. “I always try to have a feeling that shogi is fun. I think that all people who are good at shogi must feel the same.” Then she admits, “When I lose, it’s harder than when I was an amateur. If you don’t enjoy it, you are not enthusiastic about research.” She believes that if she improves her skills to predict moves ahead and wins more often, she will enjoy playing shogi even more.
Shogi is complicated, and while there are joys of winning by thinking, there are also fears of losing if you make a wrong move. “I’m a competitive person, so it’s frustrating when I lose. However, I can accept the result because I am responsible for the moves that I made. I think what attracts me about shogi is the fact that you are responsible for everything,” she showed an aspect that she is a tough player.
She always tries to fight tenaciously even when the odds are against her. She says there are no women’s shogi players that she is aware of as her rivals. However, the success of her generation, including Aya Uchiyama, her junior in the shogi club, is stimulating, which makes her feel like she doesn’t want to lose.
“I want to become stronger step by step and eventually win women’s titles.” She is looking toward the future.
Saki Miyazawa, women’s shogi player ranked 2-kyu
Saki Miyazawa:Graduated from Hiroo Gakuen High School in Tokyo, 4th year of Faculty of Law. Her master is Makoto Tobe ranked 7-dan. She won her debut match on August 30, and her record as a women’s professional shogi player is 2 wins and 3 losses (as of November 2). She won the women’s division of the National Junior High School Shogi Championship in 2016, the women’s individual of the National High School Shogi Championship consecutively in 2018 and 2019, and the Women’s Student Masters Tournament in 2022.
“Aiming to become an authentic professional shogi player”
Aya Uchiyama, a women’s professional shogi player ranked 1-dan
Women’s professional shogi player, 1st year in the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Engineering. “It’s easy to understand because the answers are clear.” She has loved and been good at math since she was a child. She says, “To think logically when I solve math questions has something in common with shogi, which needs to read ahead.”
When she was asked about the appeal of shogi, her answer was a little bit surprising. Of course, she deals with the world of shogi as a professional player, but she says, “Rather than worrying about winning or losing, I like thinking about (shogi moves). Thinking is fun.”
During the interview, “I like thinking more than winning or losing.” was repeatedly heard. “There will come a time when the efforts of years of research will be rewarded. There is a possibility that it will happen,” on the other hand, “I became a professional shogi player as an extension of my love for shogi. I’m not the type of person who has hit “walls” so much,” analyzing herself. There are no women’s shogi players that she is aware of as her rivals.
She won the Shirataki Ayumi Cup, which is a gateway to success for newcomers, and increased her cumulative number of wins, becoming a professional when she was in the 1st year at Chuo University High School. She is a women’s professional shogi player with a unique atmosphere that makes you feel that she is very special and a genius player.
This year, more wins than expected
This year’s record is 18 wins and 10 losses (as of November 2). “I have won more tournaments than I expected, and the number of matches I’ve played has increased. Only after I win do I realize my skills have improved,” she feels the effects. The number of games she needs to play to gain experience has increased to about double what she played in high school.
About the fun of shogi, she says, “Even in this age of AI (artificial intelligence), it has not been figured out what the best move is. I think it’s good that there is a variety of strategies in shogi, and finding your favorite strategies might also be an opportunity to become absorbed in shogi. Repeating the same strategy every time you play a game is a shortcut to improving your skills.”
About Saki Miyazawa, her senior in the same shogi club, who has decided to become a women’s professional shogi player, she says, “We have known each other for a long time, and we will continue to have a long-term relationship. I am honestly happy.”
She is characterized by her “defending style.” She is a traditional static rook player, and is good at making no mistakes of her moves to exceed her opponent’s attacks. She points out that in order to improve her skills further, it is important to acquire knowledge about the early stages of the game, and to study shogi records and accumulate experience in actual battles.
She aims at an authentic shogi player who does not make unusual moves as her ideal image.
Aya Uchiyama, women’s professional shogi player ranked 1-dan
Aya Uchiyama: Graduated from Chuo University High School in Tokyo, 1st year of the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Her master is Tadao Kitajima ranked 7-dan. In September 2020, she won the 14th Shirataki Ayumi Cup, which is a gateway to success for newcomers, and in December of the same year, she became a women’s professional shogi player. She humbly says, “I’m not suited to setting big goals, so I want to steadily increase the number of games I play and move up the ranks one by one.” She says she can continue because she likes both shogi and math.
“Shogi has become a hot topic” “He’s just amazing”
Sota Fujii’s eight crowns (Hachikan)
About Sota Fujii Hachikan, who attracts great attention beyond the shogi world, Aya Uchiyama says, “Shogi has become a hot topic, and Fujii Hachikan has had a great positive impact.” “I would be happy if as many people as possible would become interested in shogi and become fans of each shogi player in the wake of the existence of Fujii Hachikan.”
Saki Miyazawa, who is occasionally asked about Fujii Hachikan by her law faculty friends, can only say “He’s just amazing.” “I can’t explain his overwhelming strength very well,” she is surprised.
