From: GRIMBERGEN KUNPV1 PSYCH KUN NL Date: 7 aug 1990 Subject: Meeting the professionals part 2 Sorry for the last hick-up, here is the real stuff: MEETING THE PROFESSIONALS part 2: Nakahara Makoto Date of birth: February 9th 1947 Promotion record: 4-dan in 1965, 5-dan in 1967, 6-dan in 1968, 7-dan in 1969, 8-dan in 1970, 9-dan in november1973 Major titles: 13 times Meijin, 11 times 10-dan tournament (now replaced by the Ryu-o tournament), 16 times Kisei, 8 times Oi, 16 times Oza, 7 times Osho, 1 time Kio Special titles: 16th Lifetime Meijin, Honorary10-dan, Honorary Kisei. The two best Shogi-players of this century are without any doubt Oyama and Nakahara. Although Nakahara's 72 major titles can't compete with Oyama's 89 titles yet, he is still seen as the best player in the world. At the age of 42 he seems more difficult to beat than ever. Currently he holds three of the seven major titles (Meijin, Kisei and Oza) and it is very likely that he will break Oyama's title record before the end of this decade. His title figures are almost as amazing as Oyama's: Meijin title: 9 times in a row (1972-1981), 10-dan: 6 times in a row (1974-1979), Kisei: 5 times in a row (1977-1979), Oi: 6 times in a row (1973-1978), Oza: 6 times in a row (1969-1974), Osho: 6 times in a row (1971-1977). In a way it is a pity that Oyama and Nakahara never competed at full strength. Nakahara has won 105 games against Oyama and lost only 55, showing that Oyama's strength was decreasing while Nakahara's strength increased. Reijer Grimbergen