Hiroe Nakai

(born June 24, 1969, in Wakkanai, Hokkaido) is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 6-dan. She is a former women's shogi professional major title holder, having won 19 major titles throughout her career, and has been awarded the lifetime title of Queen Meijin, and also was the first women's professional to beat a regular shogi professional in an official game, the first women's professional to win an official game against a Class A professional, and the first women's professional to win a game in the NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament.

Nakai also is a former representative director of the Ladies Professional Shogi-player's Association of Japan (LPSA).

Early life Nakai started playing shogi at the age of 4. She finished second in the in 1981 at the age of 11. In 1983, she entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school and reached the rank of 2-kyū before deciding to leave in 1990.

Women's shogi professional Nakai was awarded the rank of women's professional 2-kyū by the Japan Shogi Association in April 1981 at the age of 11 as a protegee of .

In 1993, Nakai became the first women's professional to defeat a regular professional in an official game when she beat in a Ryūō tournament game.

Nakai was 16 years old when she won her first major title in 1985 by defeating the reigning Women's Meijin Naoko Hayashiba three games to one to win the Women's Meijin title. The following year the roles were reversed with Nakai successfully defending her title against the challenger Kobayashi three games to two.

In 2003, Nakai became the first women's professional to win a NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament game. She won her round 1 game of the 53rd NHK Cup (2003) against Mamoru Hatakeyama and then in round 2 won against Teruichi Aono (who was in Class A at the time). She lost in round 3 to Makoto Nakahara. In round 2, Nakai faced Yasumitsu Satō who was the reigning Kisei title holder. Nakai obtained an advantageous position against Satō, but was unable to convert it into a win.

In April 2009, Nakai became the first women's professional to win 500 official games, and then became the first women's professional to win 600 official games in January 2015.

In August 2010, Nakai defeated Sayuri Honda in the quarterfinals of the to win her nineteenth official game in a row and set a new record for consecutive wins by a women's professional.

In October 2020, Nakai at 51 years and 3 months old became the oldest challenger for a women's major title when she defeated Sakura Ishimoto in the finals of the challenger tournament for the 28th Kurashiki Tōka Cup. The win advanced Nakai to a women's major title match for the first time in 16 years and it also broke the previous record for oldest title challenger of 49 years and 8 months set two years earlier by Ichiyo Shimizu.

Promotion history Nakai has been promoted as follows.

Annual Shogi Awards 13th Annual Awards (April 1985March 1986): Women's Professional Award 14th Annual Awards (April 1986March 1987): Women's Professional Award 16th Annual Awards (April 1888March 1989): Women's Professional Award 20th Annual Awards (April 1992March 1993): Women's Professional Award 27th Annual Awards (April 1999March 2000): Women's Professional Award 29th Annual Awards (April 2001March 2002): Women's Professional of the Year 30th Annual Awards (April 2002March 2003): Women's Professional of the Year 31st Annual Awards (April 2003March 2004): Women's Professional Award 22nd Annual Awards (April 2004March 2005): Women's Professional Award 38th Annual Awards (April 2010March 2011): Women's Professional Most Games Played 40th Annual Awards (April 2012March 2012): Women's Professional Most Games Played

Other awards 1986, February: Wakkanai, Hokkaido Meritorious Citizen Award

LPSA representative director Nakai was selected to be the first representative director of The Ladies Professional Shogi-player's Association of Japan (LPSA) after it was established in 2007, and served in that capacity until 2010. She served as a member of the Warabi, Saitama board of education from 2003 to 2015 and was named a "Warabi City PR Ambassador" in May 2016.

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