Hiromu Watanabe (渡辺 大夢, Watanabe Hiromu, born July 29, 1988) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 6-dan.
Early life and apprenticeship
Watanabe was born in Kōtō, Japan on July 29, 1988.[1] He learned how to play shogi when he was about five years old from his grandfather, and subsequently entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū as a student of shogi professional Kazuo Ishida [ja] in 2001.[2][3]
Watanabe was promoted to the rank of 1-dan in 2004, and 3-dan in 2006.[2][3] He obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in October 2012 after finishing the 51st 3-dan League (April 2012 – September 2012) with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses. Although Watanabe's record actually placed him in a tie for second-place overall, his lower league seed meant he did not earn automatic promotion to the rank of 4-dan; his performance, however, was good enough to earn him a second promotion point, thus giving him the option to enter the professional ranks as a free class player, which he elected to do.[2][3][4]
