Japanese chess | Zhang Xinzhi became a professional chess player

Excerpt from: Daily News, Daily Sports

Image: Daily News

On January 29, the female stream of the Japanese Chess Academy specially used the final round of the examination to be held at the Japanese Chess Academy. In the end, Zhang Xinzhi won the last round and became a professional chess player with a record of 6 wins and 1 loss. Zhang Xinzhi will officially become a professional chess player from April 1, 2022.

Zhang Xinzhi began learning Go at the age of 5 and became a student at the Japanese Chess Academy in July 2019. Zhang Xinzhi's current age is 12 years and 2 months, compared with 12 years and 4 months when he officially became a professional chess player on April 1, and Zhongyi's age at this time is 12 years and 10 months, so Zhang Xinzhi will become the youngest professional player in Japanese Go.

Zhang Xinzhi's father is the first Japanese Go player to achieve five crowns, Zhang Xujiudan, his mother is the first woman to win a grand slam Kobayashi Quanmei Seven Dan, and her sister Zhang Xincheng Chuduan also successfully fixed the stage in 2020. At this point, the family has become professional chess players.

Zhang Xinzhi's maternal grandfather Kobayashi Koichi was awarded the Triple Crown, his maternal grandmother Reiko Kobayashi 7 dan, and his maternal great-grandfather Kitani Shikudan were also professional chess players. The family has a total of 125 titles.

Zhang Xinzhi said in the interview: "I am really happy, and I am also relieved a lot. My parents didn't say much about it either, so I didn't have much pressure either. Now my strength is still a lot worse, I want to continue to work hard. My goal is my own father."

Note: Professional chess players in Japan generally become professional chess players by ranking at the top of the adoption examination between the respective students of the Japanese Chess Academy and the Kansai Chess Academy (external chess players can take part of the examination). Only the first place is admitted to the women's limited adoption test, and in recent years, the quota of "Special Recommendation for Female Streamers" recommended by the tutor of the college students has been added, and the "Special Recommendation for Talents" place has been established in the future in anticipation of achieving good results in the World Competition. Zhongyi was the first to become a professional chess player through the "Special Recommendation for Talents" quota.