Momoko Katō

Momoko Katō (加藤 桃子, Katō Momoko, born October 6, 1993) is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 3-dan. She is a former Women's Ōza and Jo-Ō title holder.

Momoko Katō
Katō at an event in 2019.
Native name加藤 桃子
Born (1993-10-06) October 6, 1993
HometownMakinohara, Shizuoka Prefecture
NationalityJapanese
Career
Achieved professional statusApril 1, 2019(2019-04-01) (aged 25)
Badge NumberW-67
RankWomen's 3-dan
TeacherTerutaka Yasue (8-dan)
Major titles won8
Websites
JSA profile page

Early life

Katō was born in Makinohara, Shizuoka Prefecture on October 6, 1993.[1] She started playing shogi when she was about five years old.[2][3] She started taking shogi lessons and was traveling outside of Shizuoka Prefecture to play in shogi tournaments by the time she was a third-grade elementary school student, and won a national shogi championship when she was a fifth-grade elementary school student.[4]

Apprentice shogi professional

Katō entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū as a student of shogi professional Terutaka Yasue in 2006 when she was eleven years old.[3] She was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 1-kyū in 2011[4] and then apprentice professional 1-dan in May 2014, becoming just the third woman to achieve that rank after Kana Satomi and Tomoka Nishiyama.[5]

In March 2019, Katō decided to leave the apprentice school and petitioned the JSA to become a women's professional shogi player instead. In consideration of her past success in women's professional shogi tournaments, the JSA decided to award Katō the rank of 3-dan instead of her last rank as an apprentice professional which is the common practice for women apprentice professionals ranked 2-kyū or higher.[2][6]

Promotion history

Note: All ranks are women's professional ranks.

Major titles

Katō has appeared in major title matches sixteen times and has won a total of eight titles. She has won the Women's Ōza and the Jo-Ō titles four times each.[7]

References
  1. "Kishi Dētabēsu" 女流棋士データベース [Women's Professional Shogi Player Database] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  2. "Shōgi no Katō Momoko Shodan ga Shōreikai Taikai Joryū Kishi Sandan ni" 将棋の加藤桃子初段が奨励会退会 女流棋士三段に [Shogi's Momoko Katō 1-dan leaves apprentice school to become a women's professional 3-dan]. Sports Hochi (in Japanese). March 27, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  3. "Shōgi･Shodai Joryū Ōza ni Jūrokusai ｢Kishi｣ Mezasu Shōreikai Ikkyū" 将棋･初代女流王座に16歳 ｢棋士｣ めざす奨励会1級 [Shogi: Apprentice professional 1-kyū aiming for "regular professional status" wins the first Women's Ōza title]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). December 13, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  4. "Kaikyo! Honshi Shusshin no Jūrokusai Shōreikaiin ga Joryū Ōza ni Katō Momoko-san" 快挙! 本市出身の16歳奨励会員が女流王座に加藤桃子さん [Hometown girl 16-year-old apprentice shogi professional Momoko Katō wins Women's Ōza title] (pdf). Kōhō Makinohara (in Japanese). Vol. 125. Makinohara City. February 2012. pp. 2–3. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  5. "｢Jo-O｣ Katō-san, Sanninme no Shōreikai Shodan" ｢女王｣ 加藤さん, 3人目の奨励会初段. The Nikkei (in Japanese). May 11, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  6. "Katō Momoko Shōreikai Shodan ga Shigatsu yori Joryū Sandan ni" 加藤桃子奨励会初段が4月より女流三段に [Apprentice professional 1-dan Momoko Katō will become a women's professional 3-dan from April] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. March 27, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  7. "Joryū Kishi Dētabēsu: Katō Momoko Taitoru Rireki" 女流棋士データベース: 加藤桃子 タイトル履歴 [Women's Professional Shogi Player Database: Momoko Katō Major Title History] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Retrieved February 8, 2021.


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