By Galo S Mirth
It is tempting to describe professional shogi in 2000 as “the usual suspects”. Yoshiharu Habu (羽生善治) was still the gravitational center of the title scene, and Takeshi Fujii (藤井猛) still wore the Ryuou crown. But if you look closely at the year, the storyline is less about permanence and more about pressure: challengers finally breaking through, champions defending by the thinnest margins, and new ideas on the board that hinted at where modern shogi was heading.
Here is a tour of the most interesting shogi events of 2000, as seen through Japanese records and reporting. (more…)