Wataru Yashiro | |
---|---|
Native name | 八代 弥 |
Born | March 3, 1994 |
Hometown | Kamo District, Shizuoka |
Career | |
Achieved professional status | April 1, 2012 | (aged 18)
Badge Number | 287 |
Rank | 7-dan |
Teacher | Teruichi Aono (9-dan) |
Tournaments won | 1 |
Meijin class | C2 |
Ryūō class | 1 |
Websites | |
JSA profile page |
Wataru Yashiro (八代 弥, Yashiro Wataru, born March 3, 1994) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 7-dan.
Yashiro was born on March 3, 1994, in Kamo District, Shizuoka.[1] He learned how to play shogi from his father when he was a first-grade elementary school student, and was accepted into the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū in September 2005 under the guidance of shogi professional Teruichi Aono.[2][3]
At first, Yashiro had some difficulty as an apprentice professional and even came close to being demoted in rank to 7-kyū; however, he started practicing regularly at the Kamata Shogi Club—a well-known shogi club where many strong amateurs, apprentence professionals, and even regular professionals would practice—and his results began to quickly improve.[2] He was promoted to the rank of 1-dan in 2008,[2] and then 3-dan in April 2010.[3] He obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in March 2012 after finishing runner up in the 50th 3-dan League (October 2011 – March 2012) with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.[2][3][4]
Yashiro defeated Yasuaki Murayama to win the 10th Asahi Cup Open in February 2017 for his only shogi tournament championship to date. Yashiro was just twenty-two years old at the time which made him the then youngest player to ever have won the tournament.[5][6] Yashiro's record, however, was broken the following year by Sōta Fujii who won the 11th Asahi Cup Open as a fifteen-year-old.[7]
The promotion history for Yashiro is as follows:[8]
Yashiro has yet to make an appearance in a major title match, but he has won one non-major shogi championships during his career.[9]
Yashiro received the Japan Shogi Association Annual Shogi Award for "Best New Player" for the 2016–17 Shogi Year.[10]