Wakamu Deguchi

is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 6-dan.

Early life and apprentice professional Deguchi was born on April 27, 1987, in Akashi, Hyōgo. He learned how to play shogi while a lower-grade elementary school student from a fellow student. Although he was more interested in soccer at the time, he got asked to play in some local shogi tournaments and did well.

Shogi professional In October 2018, Deguchi, still only an apprentice professional 3-dan, advanced to the finals of the 49th Shinjin-Ō tournament, but lost to shogi professional Sōta Fujii 2 games to none. Deguchi defeated shogi professionals Shingo Sawada (in the second round) and Hirotaka Kajiura (in the semi-finals) to become just the fifth apprentice professional to advance to the finals of the tournament.

Promotion history Deguchi's promotion history is as follows: 6-kyū: September 2007 3-dan: April 2013 4-dan: April 1, 2019 5-dan: March 5, 2021 6-dan: April 2, 2022

Titles and other championships Deguchi has appeared in a major title match once. He was the challenger to Sōta Fujii in the 7th Eiō title match (April 2022May 2022) but lost the match 3 games to 0.

Personal life Deguchi married women's shogi professional Keika Kitamura in April 2021.