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Takumi Itō

Takumi Itō (伊藤匠, Itō Takumi, October 10, 2002) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 7-dan. He is the current holder of the Eiō title.

Early life, amateur shogi and apprentice professional

Itō was born in Setagaya, Tokyo on October 10, 2002. He learned how to play shogi from his father when he was about five years old.

As a second grade elementary school student in 2010, Itō represented Tokyo in the 9th All Japan Elementary School Student Kurashiki Ōshō Tournament in and finished in second place. At the World Open Shogi Championships held in Minsk, Belarus in July 2013, Itō finished 9–0 to win the tournament as a fifth grade elementary school student.

Itō entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school in September 2013 at the rank of 6-kyū when he was a fifth grade elementary school student under the guidance of shogi professional Toshio Miyata. Itō was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 3-dan in April 2018 and obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan after winning the 67th 3-dan League (April 2020 – September 2020) with a record of 15 wins and 3 losses.

Shogi professional

In September–October 2021, Itō defeated Yūsei Koga 2 games to none to win the 52nd Shinjin-Ō tournament.

Itō's first appearance in a major title match came in October–November 2023 when he challenged Sōta Fujii for the 36th Ryūō title. Itō advanced to the title match by defeating Ōza title holder Takuya Nagase 2 games to none in the best-of-three challenger match (July–August 2023), but lost the best-of-seven title match to Fujii 4 games to none. By becoming the challenger for the Ryūō title, Itō also satisfied the promotion criteria for 7-dan. In December 2023, Ito defeated Akihito Hirose to win the challenger's tournament for the 48th Kiō Tournament, and advance to the title match against Fujii; Itō had actually lost to Hirose in an earlier round, but advanced to the finals through the loser's bracket, which meant he needed to win two games in a row as opposed to Hirose who only needing to win one of two games. In the 48th Kiō title match (February – March 2024), however, Itō was unable to break through and lost the match 3 games to 0, although four games needed to be played due to Game 1 ending in impasse.

In March 2024, Itō defeated Nagase in the 9th Eiō challenger tournament to advance to the title match against the reigning Eiō Fujii. Going into the 9th Eiō title match (April – June 2024), Itō had yet to beat Fujii in eleven official games (ten losses and one impasse), which included two defeats in major title matches. In 9th Eiō major title match, Itō started poorly by losing Game 1, but was able to win Games 2, 3 and 5 to win the match 3 games to 2. The victory not only gave Itō his first major title, but it also ended Fujii consecutive major title match winning streat at 22.

Promotion history

The promotion history for Itō is as follows.

6-Dan (rank)#Modern usage in shogikyū: September 1, 2013
3-dan: April 2018
4-dan: October 1, 2020
5-dan: March 10, 2022
6-dan: April 20, 2023
7-dan: August 14, 2023

Titles and other championships

Itō has appeared in three major title matches and has won one major title. He has also won one non-major title tournament.

Awards and honors

Itō won the Japan Shogi Association's Annual Shogi Awards for "Best New Player" and "Best Winning Percentage" in April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2022, shogi year, and "Excellent Player", "Most Games Won", "Most Games Played" and the Masuda Award for the April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024, shogi year.