Masayuki Toyoshima

Masayuki Toyoshima (豊島 将之) is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan.

He is a former holder of the Ryūō, Meijin, Ōi, Kisei and Eiō titles.

Toyoshima, together with Akira Inaba, Tetsurō Itodani and Akihiro Murata, is one of four Kansai-based young shogi professionals who are collectively referred to as the Big Young Kansai Four (関西若手四天王).

Toyoshima was 20-years-old at the time which made him the youngest challenger in the tournament's history, breaking the record set by Hifumi Katō who was 22-years-old when he challenged for the title in 1961.

His victory meant that for the first time since 1987 (when there were only seven major titles) no player held more than one major title.

Toyoshima was born in Ichinomiya, Aichi on April 30, 1990.

He entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū under the guidance of shogi professional Kiyozumi Kiriyama in 1999.

He obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan on April 1, 2007, after finishing tied for first with Kōta Kanai in the 40th 3-dan League (October 2006March 2007) with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.

Toyoshima's first appearance in a major title match came in 2010 when he defeated Yasumitsu Satō to win the 60th Ōshō league with a record of 5 wins and 1 loss, Although Toyoshima lost his first game in league play, he proceeded to win his next five to earn the right to challenge defending Ōshō Toshiaki Kubo for his title.

The match against Kubo was tied at one win apiece after two games, but Kubo won three out of the next four games to defend his title 4–2.

Like their first meeting back in 2010, the players were tied at one win each after two games, but Kubo went on to win the match once again 4 games to 2.

In July 2014, Toyoshima defeated Tadahisa Maruyama to win the right to challenge Yoshiharu Habu for the 62nd Ōza title.

Although Toyoshima lost the first two games of his match against Habu, he won the next two to tie the match before losing the deciding Game 5.

In April 2015, Toyoshima defeated Meijin title holder Amahiko Satō to advance to the 86th Kisei title match, but lost to Habu 3 games to 1.

Toyoshima defeated Amahiko Satō to win the 37th Nihon Series JT Professional Tournament on October 23, 2016, for his first tournament victory as a professional.

He reached the finals of the tournament once again in 2017, but lost to Takayuki Yamasaki.

Two days after his loss to Yamazaki, Toyoshima defeated Kōichi Fukaura on November 21, 2017, to win the 67th Ōshō league with a record of 5 wins and 1 loss and earn the right to challenge Kubo once again for the Ōshō title.

On July 17, 2018, Toyoshima defeated Habu in Game 5 of the 89th Kisei match to capture his first major title.

The period of "no multiple titleholders", however, was ended by Toyoshima himself in September 2018 when he defeated Tatsuya Sugai 4 games to 3 to capture the 59th Ōi title and become a 2-crown title holder.

In March 2019, Toyoshima won the 77th Meijin Class A ranking league with a record of 8 wins and 1 loss to earn the right to challenge reigning Meijin Amahiko Satō for the 77th Meijin title.

It was the first time Toyoshima earned the right to challenge for the Meijin title.

In the April–May title match, Toyoshima defeated Satō 4 games to none.

Toyoshima's victory made him a 3-crown title holder, and also made him the first shogi professional born in the Heisei Era to win the Meijin title.

Capturing the Meijin title also meant the Toyoshima met the criteria for promotion to the rank of 9-dan and he was awarded the rank by the JSA later the same day.

Toyoshima's first title defense came in JuneJuly 2019 when he faced challenger Akira Watanabe in the 90th Kisei title match.

Toyoshima won the first game of the match, but Watanabe won the next three games to capture the title.

With the loss, Toyoshima returned to being a 2-crown title holder.

Toyoshima defended his Ōi title against Kazuki Kimura in the 60th Ōi title match (July 7September 26, 2019).

Toyoshima won the first two games, but proceeded to lose the next two.

Toyoshima won Game 5 and needed just one more win to defend his title, but Kimura won the last two games to win the match 4 games to 3.

In September 2019, Toyoshima and Kimura met again the 32nd Ryūō Challenger Playoff Match to earn the right to challenge defending Ryūō Akihito Hirose for the 32nd Ryūō title.

Toyoshima won the match 2 games to 1 and became a challenger for the Ryūō title for the first time.

In the October–December title match against Hirose, Toyoshima won the first three games and ended up winning the match 4 games to 1.

The victory not only returned Toyoshima to 2-crown title holder status and gave him his first Ryūō title, but it also made him only the fourth professional shogi player to hold the Ryūō and Meijin titles at the same time.

Toyoshima defeated Watanabe in the championship game of the 27th on September 24, 2019, to win the tournament for the first time.

In JuneAugust 2020, Toyoshima was unable to defend his Meijin title, losing the 78th Meijin title match to Watanabe 4 games to 2.

Toyoshima captured the 5th Eiō title on September 21, 2020, when he defeated the defending Eiō title holder Takuya Nagase 4 games to 3.

The two players actually needed nine games to determine the best-of-seven match because two of the games ended in impasse.

Toyoshima and Nagase faced each other again in the finals of the 41st Nihon Series JT Professional Tournament in November 2020; Toyoshima defeated Nagase to win the tournament for the second time.

Toyoshima successfully defended his Ryūō title in December 2020 by winning the 33rd Ryūō title match (October–December 2020) against Habu 4 games to 1.