Aya Imai
| Aya Imai | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 今井 絢 |
| Born | October 25, 2001 |
| Hometown | Nagoya, Japan |
| Career | |
| Achieved professional status | February 1, 2023 (aged 21) |
| Badge Number | W-83 |
| Rank | Women's 1-dan |
| Teacher | Masataka Sugimoto (8-dan) |
| Websites | |
| JSA profile page | |
Aya Imai (今井 絢, Imai Aya, born October 25, 2001) is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 1-dan. She is the first women's professional shogi player to come from Nagoya.
Early life and becoming a women's professional shogi player[edit]
Imai was born in Nagoya on October 25, 2001.[1] She learned how to play shogi from her father when she was five years old.[2][3] At first, she mainly played against her older brother and continued to improve to the point where she start attending a local shogi school.[4] As a second-grade elementary school student, she entered the Tokai branch of the Japan Shogi Association's training group system under the tutelage of shogi professional Masataka Sugimoto.[4] By June 2016, she had performed well enough in the training school system to qualify for women's professional status even though she was still a third-year junior high school student, but decided to enter the JSA's professional apprentice school instead to try and obtain regular professional status.[2][4][5] At the end of November 2022, she decided to formally leave the apprentice school at the rank of 1-kyū because she did not feel she would be able to achieve promotion to the next rank of 1-dan in accordance with JSA apprentice school's rules which require that apprentice professionals achieve said rank within one year of turning 21 years old.[3][5] She decided to switch over to women's professional shogi, and formally requested to be allowed do so in January 2023.[5] The JSA accepted her request and awarded her the rank of women's professional 1-kyū since that rank she had achieved as an apprentice professional.[2][3][5]
Women's shogi professional[edit]
Promotion history[edit]
Imai's promotion history is as follows.[6]
- 1-kyū: February 1, 2023
- 1-dan: August 20, 2023
Note: All ranks are women's professional ranks.
Personal life[edit]
Imai is the first women's professional from Nagoya.[3] As of February 2023,[update] she is a third-year university student at Doshisha University.[2][4]
References[edit]
- ^ "Joryū Kishi Dētabēsu: Imai Aya" 女流棋士データベース: 今井絢 [Women's Professional Shogi Player Database: Aya Imai] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Imai Aya-san ga Nigatsu kara Joryūkishi Ikkyū ni" 今井絢さんが2月から女流棋士1級に [Aya Imai Kimura will be a women's professional 1-kyū from February] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. January 31, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Shōgi no Imai Aya-san, Nagoya Hatsu no Joryū Kishi ni Fujii Sōta Gokan to Dōmon" 将棋の今井絢さん, 名古屋初の女流棋士に 藤井聡太五冠と同門 [Aya Imai becomes Nagoya's first women's professional shogi player; she has the same teacher as Sōta Fujii 5-crown]. Chunichi Shimbun (in Japanese). February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Seko, Hiroko (February 4, 2023). "Shoreikai no Rokunenhan ｢Ishiki Kaikaku｣" 奨励会の6年半 ｢意識改革｣ [Six-and-a-half years as an apprentice professional changed Aya Imai's way of thinking]. Chunichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Kitano, Arata (February 1, 2023). "Fujii Sōta Ryūō no Imōto Deshi ga Joryu Kishi ni Imai Aya-san ga Kataru ｢Fujii Sensei｣" 藤井聡太竜王の妹弟子が女流棋士に 今井絢さんが語る ｢藤井先生｣ [Aya Imai, who has the same shogi teacher as Sōta Fujii Ryūō, obtains women's professional status; she talks about "Fujii Sensei"]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ "Joryū Kishi Dētabēsu: Imai Aya Shōdan Rireki" 女流棋士データベース: 今井絢 昇段履歴 [Women's Professional Shogi Player Database: Aya Imai Promotion History] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Retrieved August 22, 2023.