Sota Fujii, the 21-year-old reigning Meijin and Ryuo, is on the verge of monopolizing all eight titles in the shogi world. On the 4th day, he secured the right to challenge for the remaining title, “Oza” by winning the Challenger Determination Match held at the Kansai Shogi Hall, Osaka City.
In the drawing of lots, Fujii took the first move. The game started at 9 a.m. The opening was a fierce fight in the static rook position, with a dramatic shift from cautious piece development in the morning to intense mutual attacks in the afternoon. At 9:15 p.m., Fujii won after 159 moves. After the game, Fujii said, “I hadn’t been able to produce any results in the Oza title match for the past few years, so I’m happy to have been able to challenge this season. The Osho title match is also ongoing, so I’m not immediately conscious of it, but I think it’s a valuable opportunity to be able to challenge for it, so I want to give it my all.”
Fujii, who is currently leading 3-0 against challenger Daichi Sasaki, a 28-year-old 7th dan player, in the 64th Oi Title match (co-hosted by three newspapers), aims to secure his fourth victory to defend his title. Furthermore, if he wins three matches against the 30-year-old Oza title holder Takuya Nagase in the 71st Osho Title match starting from the 31st, he will achieve all eight titles.
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