is a professional shogi player and a chess FIDE Master. His teacher is Tatsuya Futakami.

Biography

Habu became a professional in 1985. He was promoted to 9 dan in 1994.

The number of titles he won is 2nd on the all-time list behind Yasuharu Oyama). . Oyama wins 80 titles, while Habu got 72 at March 2009.

He dominated all 7 major titles (Ryu-oh, Meijin, Kisei, Oi, Oza, Kioh, and Osho) in 1996 (from February 14 to July 30).

Habu is also one of the best chess players in Japan, with an ELO rating of 2404 (April 2009).

Promotion history

• 1982, December 2: 6-kyu
• 1983, February 2: 5-kyu (6 wins, 3 losses)
• 1983, March 28: 4-kyu (6 wins, no losses)
• 1983, May 11: 3-kyu: (6 wins, no losses)
• 1983, July 7: 2-kyu: (6 wins, no losses)
• 1983, August 24: 1-kyu: (6 wins, no losses)

• 1984, January 11: 1-dan (12 wins, 4 losses)
• 1984, September 10: 2-dan (14 wins, 5 losses)
• 1985, April 25: 3-dan (12 wins, 4 losses)
• 1985, December 12: 4-dan (13 wins, 4 losses)
• 1988, April 1: 5-dan (because of C1-class Meijinsen promotion)
• 1989, October 1: 6-dan (being the Ryu-oh challenger)
• 1990, October 1: 7-dan (being Ryu-oh title holder himself)
• 1993, April 1: 8-dan (joined A-class Meijinsen)
• 1994, April 1: 9-dan (special promotion)

Titles and Other Championships

Titles

Title	Years Held	Number of titles
Ryu-oh	1989, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002	6
Meijin	1994 - 1996, 2003, 2008, 2009	6
Kisei	1993 - 1995, 2000, 2008, 2009	6
Oi	1993 - 2001, 2004 - 2006	12
Oza	1992 - 2009	18
Kioh	1991 - 2002, 2005	13
Osho	1996 - 2001, 2003, 2005-2009	12

Honorary titles: Life time (Eisen) Meijin, Kisei, Oi, Oza, Kioh, Osho.

Non-title tournament

Tournament	Years Held
Asahi Open	1989, 1991, 1998, 2004-2007
NHK Cup (shogi)	1989, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2008
Nihon Series	1991, 1998, 2003
Ginga-sen	1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006
Hayazashi Senshuken	1992, 1995
Shinjin-Oh (shogi)	1988

References

• Biography and Interview from The Japan Times Online
• Interview from chessbase.com

External links