Kazushiza Horiguchi
Kazushiza Horiguchi is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 8-dan.
Early life and apprenticeship
Horiguchi was born in Tokyo Metropolis on February 28, 1975. He learned shogi around the age of ten after seeing a shogi set at his grandparents' house. Horiguchi entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school as a pupil of shogi professional at the rank of 6-kyū in 1988. He was promoted to the rank of 1-dan in 1991, and entered the 3-dan League in 1993.Horiguchi came close to obtaining full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in the 17th 3-dan League, but lost his last round game to future fellow professional Kimura Kazuki to miss out on promotion. The following league season, however, Horiguchi finished with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses in the 18th 3-dan League to win the league and earn promotion to the rank of 4-dan.
Shogi professional
Horiguchi finished runner up in the 48th NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament and the 8th, losing in the finals both times to Yoshiharu Habu. He also finished runner up in the 30th Shinjin-ŌPromotion history
Horiguchi's promotion history is as follows:- 6-kyū: 1989
- 1-dan: 1991
- 4-dan: April 1, 1996
- 5-dan: October 14, 1999
- 6-dan: October 1, 2002
- 7-dan: April 1, 2004
- 8-dan: December 15, 2022