Kenji Kobayashi

• Name — Kenji Kobayashi • Native Name — 小林健二 • Born — 31 March 1957 • Hometown — Takamatsu, Kagawa • Pro Date — 1975 12 20 • Badge No — 123 • Teacher — Susumu Itaya • Rank — 9-dan • Teacher Rank — 9-dan • Retirementdate — 2022 03 31 • Wins — 699 • Losses — 775 • Tournaments — 2 • Notable Students — * Takashi Ikenaga • Yūta Komori • Ryō Shimamoto • Seiya Tomita • Akihiro Ida • Kenshi Tokuda • Saito Morimoto • Shinobu Iwane • Keika Kitamura • Juri Kimura • Jsa — 123

Kobayashi was born in Takamatsu, Kagawa on March 31, 1957. He entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school in 1972 at the rank of 6-kyū under the guidance of professional shogi player Susumu Itaya. At first, Kobayashi pursued his apprenticeship at the Japan Shogi Association's school in Tokyo; however, he soon began to have health problems, and moved to Nagoya to study under Itaya as a uchi-deshi (a live-in apprentice). He was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 1-dan in 1974 and obtained full-professional status and the rank of 4-dan in December 1975.

Kobayashi became the 40th professional to win his 600th official game when he defeated Kaishū Tanaka in Meijin Class C1 tournament play on June 9, 2009. In March 2018, Kobayashi finished the 76th Meijin Class C2 league (April 2017March 2018) with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses, earning a second consecutive demotion point which meant he was only one point away from automatic demotion to "Free Class" play. As a result, he declared his intention to the Japan Shogi Association to become a Free Class player as of April 2018 rather than risk automatic demotion. Kobayashi retired from professional shogi on March 31, 2022. His career record was 699 wins and 774 losses.

The promotion history for Kobayashi is as follows: • 6-kyū: 1972 • 1-dan: 1974 • 4-dan: December 20, 1975 • 5-dan: April 1, 1979 • 6-dan: April 1, 1981 • 7-dan: April 1, 1983 • 8-dan: April 1, 1986 • 9-dan: March 1, 2002

Kobayashi never appeared in a major title match, but he won two non-major shogi championships during his career: the Young Lions (shogi) in 1977 and the Hayazashi Senshuken in 1994.

Together with Masataka Sugimoto he was well-known for systematizing Fourth File Rook josekis before the advent of the Fujii System, and also as the creator of the Super Fourth File Rook opening (スーパー四間飛車).

Kobayashi served on the Japan Shogi Association's board of directors as a director from 1999 to 2004.

Kenji Kobayashi is recorded as professional shogi player, painter, sculptor, installation artist and photographer.