Japanese shogi sensation Sota Fujii was beaten by his challenger for his Eio title Thursday, losing one of the eight major titles for the first time since he secured the full set in October last year.
Fujii, 21, gave up the Eio title in his 23rd title match in the city of Kofu, in Yamanashi Prefecture. The challenger, Takumi Ito, 21, won his first crown with three wins and two losses.
In 2020, Fujii became the youngest shogi player to win a major title by claiming the Kisei title at the age of 17 years and 11 months. He later dominated all eight major titles — Ryuo, Meijin, Oi, Eio, Oza, Kio, Osho and Kisei — in nearly three years.
Fujii said Thursday's result was inevitable because he made many mistakes in the endgames.
Referring to his first loss of a title, Fujii said that he had thought it was only a matter of time so he would do his best without worrying too much.
Ito made his debut as a professional shogi player in 2020, four years after Fujii. Looking back at the five matches with Fujii, Ito said that, as there were many difficult games overall, he was lucky. "I'm glad I got a result," he said.