Kazuo Sugimoto
Kazuo Sugimoto is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 4-dan.Sugimoto was born in Ōta, Tokyo on September 1, 1991. He learned how to play shogi from watching his father play. As a sixth-grade student at Tamagawa Elementary School in 2003, Sugimoto won the 28th, defeating fellow future professional Takuya Ishida in the semi-finals.
Later in 2003, Sugimoto entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū as a student of shogi professional Kunio Yonenaga. He was promoted to the rank of 3-dan in 2008 and obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan in April 2017 after finishing second to Nishida in the 60th 3-dan League with a record of 12 wins and 6 losses.The promotion history for Sugimoto is as follows.
- 2003, September: 6-kyū
- 2008: 3-dan
- 2017, April 1: 4-dan
