Kōhei Funae

Kōhei Funae (船江 恒平, Funae Kōhei, born April 27, 1987) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 7-dan.

Kōhei Funae
Funae at a human shogi [ja] event in November 2015.
Native name	船江恒平
Born	(1987-04-27) April 27, 1987 (age 38)
Hometown	Kakogawa, Hyōgo
Career
Achieved professional status	October 1, 2010(2010-10-01) (aged 23)
Badge Number	281
Rank	7-dan
Teacher	Keita Inoue (9-dan)
Tournaments won	2
Meijin class	C1
Ryūō class	4
Websites
JSA profile page

Early life, amateur shogi and apprentice professional

Funae was born on April 27, 1987, in Kakogawa, Hyōgo.^[1] He learned how to play shogi from his grandfather when he was about five years old. When he was a second-grade student elementary school student, Funae started to regularly go to the Kakogawa Shogi Center where he met shogi professional Keita Inoue for the first time. Funae finished runner-up to fellow future professional Issei Takazaki in the 23rd Elementary School Student Meijin Tournament [ja] in 1998. Later that same year, Funae entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school under Inoue's guidance at the rank of 6-kyū.^[2]

Funae steadily advanced through the apprentice school ranks and was promoted to 1-kyū in 2001. His progress, however, slowed at that point and he wasn't promoted to 1-dan until March 2003.^[2][3] Funae was promoted to the rank 3-dan in 2006, and entered the 39th 3-dan League in April 2006. Funae's progress, however, once again slowed and he did not obtain full professional status and the corresponding rank of 4-dan until October 2010 after he finished second in the 47th 3-dan League with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses.^[2][4][5]

Shogi professional

Funae's first tournament victory as a shogi professional came in 2011 when he defeated Hiroshi Miyamoto (still an apprentice professional 3-dan at the time) 2 games to 1 to win the 1st Kakogawa Seiryū Tournament [ja] for young professionals.^[6]

In March–April 2013, Funae was one of five shogi professionals to play against five computer shogi programs in the 2nd Denō Match. Funae played against the program Tsutsukana [ja] and lost in 184 moves.^[7] Funae played Tsutsukana once again in a "revenge match" in December 2013 and this time Funae won in 85 moves.^[8]

Funae's other tournament victory came in 2016 when he defeated Shōta Chida to win the 1st Jōshū Yamada Challenge Cup [ja] sponsored by Japanese electronics retailer Yamada Denki.^[9][10]

Promotion history

Funae's promotion history is as follows:^[11]

• 6-kyū: September 1998
• 3-dan: April 2006
• 4-dan: October 1, 2010
• 5-dan: March 6, 2012
• 6-dan: December 28, 2016
• 7-dan: March 12, 2024

Titles and other championships

Funae has yet to appear in a major title match, but he has won two non-major title tournaments.^[12]

Tsume Shogi Solving Competition

Funae won the 7th Tsume Shogi Solving Competition in 2010 while he was still an apprentice professional 3-dan; he was the only participant to finish with a perfect score of 100.^[2]