Kenji Kobayashi

Kenji Kobayashi (小林健二, Kobayashi Kenji, born March 31, 1957) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9-dan. He is a former director of the Japanese Shogi Association.

Kobayashi was born in Takamatsu, Kagawa on March 31, 1957. He entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school in 1972 at the rank of 6-kyū under the guidance of professional shogi player Susumu Itaya [ja]. At first, Kobayashi pursued his apprenticeship at the Japan Shogi Association's school in Tokyo; however, he soon began to have health problems, and moved to Nagoya to study under Itaya as a uchi-deshi (a live-in apprentice). He was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 1-dan in 1974 andobtained full-professional status iand the rank of 4-dan in December 1975.

Kobayashi became the 40th professional to win his 600th official game when he defeated Kaishū Tanaka [ja] in Meijin Class C1 tournament play on June 9, 2009.

In March 2018, Kobayashi finished the 76th Meijin Class C2 league (April 2017 – March 2018) with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses, earning a second consecutive demotion point which meant he was only one point away from automatic demotion to "Free Class" play. As a result, he declared his intention to the Japan Shogi Association to become a Free Class player as of April 2018 rather than risk automatic demotion.

Together with Masataka Sugimoto he was well-known for systematizing Fourth File Rook josekis before the advent of the Fujii System, and also as the creator of the Super Fourth File Rook opening (スーパー四間飛車).

Kobayashi served on the Japan Shogi Association's board of directors as a director from 1999 to 2004.

The promotion history for Kobayashi is as follows:

• 1972: 6-kyū
• 1974: 1-dan
• 1975, December 20: 4-dan
• 1979, April 1: 5-dan
• 1981, April 1: 6-dan
• 1983, April 1: 7-dan
• 1986, April 1: 8-dan
• 2002, March 1: 9-dan

Kobayashi has yet to make an appearance in a major title match, but he has won two non-major shogi championships during his career: the Young Lions [ja] in 1977 and the Hayazashi Senshuken [ja] in 1994.

Kobayashi received the Japan Shogi Association's "Best New Player" (1980) and "Technique Award" (1990) Annual Shogi Awards. He also received the association's "25 Years Service Award" in 2000 for being an active professional for twenty-five years and the "Shogi Honor Award" in 2009 for winning 600 official games.