Kenji Kobayashi
Kenji Kobayashi is a Japanese retired professional shogi player who achieved the rank of 9-dan. He is also a former director of the Japanese Shogi Association.
Early life and apprenticeship
Kobayashi was born in Takamatsu, Kagawa on March 31, 1957. He entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school in 1972 at the rank of 6-kyū under the guidance of professional shogi player. At first, Kobayashi pursued his apprenticeship at the Japan Shogi Association's school in Tokyo; however, he soon began to have health problems, and moved to Nagoya to study under Itaya as a uchi-deshi. He was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 1-dan in 1974 and obtained full-professional status and the rank of 4-dan in December 1975.Shogi professional
Kobayashi became the 40th professional to win his 600th official game when he defeated in Meijin Class C1 tournament play on June 9, 2009.In March 2018, Kobayashi finished the 76th Meijin Class C2 league with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses, earning a second consecutive demotion point which meant he was only one point away from automatic demotion to "Free Class" play. As a result, he declared his intention to the Japan Shogi Association to become a Free Class player as of April 2018 rather than risk automatic demotion.
Kobayashi retired from professional shogi on March 31, 2022. His career record was 699 wins and 774 losses.
Promotion history
The promotion history for Kobayashi is as follows:- 6-kyū: 1972
- 1-dan: 1974
- 4-dan: December 20, 1975
- 5-dan: April 1, 1979
- 6-dan: April 1, 1981
- 7-dan: April 1, 1983
- 8-dan: April 1, 1986
- 9-dan: March 1, 2002