Hiroki Taniai


Hiroki Taniai is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 5-dan.
𝕏 HirokiTaniai

Early life and apprenticeship

Taniai was born on January 6, 1994, in Chūō, Tokyo. He learned how to play shogi from his grandfather and was accepted into the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū as a student of shogi professional Makoto Chūza in September 2006. He was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 3-dan in 2011 and obtained full professional status and the corresponding rank of 4-dan in April 2020 after finishing second to Shin'ichirō Hattori in the 66th 3-dan League with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.

Shogi professional

Promotion history

The promotion history for Taniai is as follows.

Yoshimoto Kyogo

In August 2022, Taniai entered into a talent management agreement with the Japanese entertanment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo.

Personal life

Taniai is a graduate of the School of Engineering, University of Tokyo. After completeing his undergraduate studies, he enrolled in the university's Graduate School of Information Science and Technology to pursue a Ph.D in information science and engineering. He is the second alumunus and the first graduate student of the university to become a professional shogi player.