Yūki Sasaki (shogi)
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| Yūki Sasaki | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 佐々木勇気 |
| Born | August 5, 1994 |
| Hometown | Misato, Japan |
| Career | |
| Achieved professional status | October 1, 2010 (aged 16) |
| Badge Number | 280 |
| Rank | 8-dan |
| Teacher | Kazuo Ishida (9-dan) |
| Tournaments won | 2 |
| Meijin class | A |
| Ryūō class | 1 |
| Websites | |
| JSA profile page | |
Yūki Sasaki (佐々木 勇気, Sasaki Yūki; born August 5, 1994) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 8-dan.
Sasaki was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 5, 1994.[1][2][3] His family moved to France when he was two years old and then returned to Misato in Saitama Prefecture, Japan when he was about five.[4][5]
As a young boy, Sasaki liked playing outdoors. His middle ear, however, became inflamed from swimming, and his doctor advised his parents to limit his playing to indoors for a while until it healed. Sasaki's father played the game go, but Sasaki started studying shogi at the prodding of his mother because she was worried that her son might mistakenly swallow one of the go pieces.[6]
As a first-grade elementary school student, he was already playing against adults at his local shogi club and was soon going to the club six days a week.[7] In 2003, Sasaki won the lower-grade section of the 2nd Elementary School Student Kurashiki Ōshō Tournament as a third-grade student,[8] and then the following year he won the 29th Elementary School Student Meijin Tournament as a fourth-grade student to become just the second fourth grader, after Akira Watanabe, to win the tournament.[5][9]
In September 2004, Sasaki was accepted into the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū under the guidance of shogi professional Kazuo Ishida.[2] In April 2008, Sasaki was promoted to the rank of appentice-professional 3-dan as a second-year junior high school student, which at the time tied the record for being the second fastest person to do so since entering the apprentice school.[5] He obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in October 2010 after winning the 47th 3-dan League (April 2010 – September 2010) with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.[10] Sasaki was 16 years and 1 month old and still a junior high school student when he was awarded professional status, thus becoming just the sixth junior high school student to turn professional.[2]