First Lady Shogi Pro-To-Be?

Comments Off on First Lady Shogi Pro-To-Be?

Kana Satomi who has three titles in Ladies Shogi, was just promoted to the First Dan at Shogi pre-professional group.  In Shogi, Japanese chess, ladies have followed a different system than men so far.   Satomi who is 19 years old is the first that was promoted to the  First Dan of the regular “men’s system.

Professional Shogi has very strict rule in that those who were promoted to the First Dan of the group compete among themselves.  If they do not make the Fourth Dan before the age of 26, they are asked to leave the group.  They will not be able to become Shogi professional unless they pass this test. (Few years ago, the system was modified a bit.)

This system so far has worked for men only and ladies have different system.  In fact, men have seven major title match, and ladies have fewer title match.

There had been no ladies who were promoted to the First Dan of the “men’s” (or regular) group and Satomi is the first.   Momoko Kato who just won the Ladies Ouza title (16 years old) is likely to follow the same approach with that of Satomi.  It will be very interesting to have many more young ladies challenge to be qualified as “regular” Shogi professionals and compete against men.   With more young lady professionals, the Shogi which has seen the popularity surge will have more fans, I hope.

Read More Share

Recent Author Posts

Join Our Community

Connect On Social Media

Most Popular Posts

We Blog The World

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share this post with your friends!