is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9-dan. He is a former holder of the Eià  and à Âza titles.
Nagase was born in Yokohama on September 5, 1992. He learned how to play shogi at age six from his grandfather, and entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school in 2004 at the rank of 6-kyà « under the guidance of shogi professional . He was promoted to 1-dan in 2007 and participated in the 3-dan League for the first time in April 2008, finishing with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses.
Nagase obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan on October 1, 2009, after winning the 45th 3-dan League (April September 2009) with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.
In October 2012, Nagase won his first tournament since turning professional when he defeated Shingo Ità  2 games to none to win the 2nd , and followed that up by defeating Tetsuya Fujimori a few days later to win the 43rd Shinjin-à  by the score of 2 games to 1.
Nagase's first appearance in a major title match came in June 2016 when he challenged Yoshiharu Habu for the 87th Kisei title. Nagase defeated Yasuaki Murayama in the challenger tournament final to advance to the title match against Habu, and was actually leading the best-of-five match 2 games to 1 before losing the final two games.
In December 2017, Nagase defeated Reo Kurosawa in the 43rd Kià  challenger match to earn the right to challenge Akira Watanabe for the title. Nagase, however, was unable to capture his first major title, losing the match to Wantabe 3 games to 2 in March 2018.
In February 2019, Nagase defeated Tatsuya Sugai 2 games to 1 in the challenger playoff round for the 4th Eià  tournament to earn the right to challenge Taichi Takami for the title. In the AprilMay 2019 title match, Nagase defeated Takami 4 games to none to win his first major title.
In July 2019, Nagase defeated the reigning Mejin Masayuki Toyoshima in the final of the challenger tournament for the 67th à Âza title to earn the right to challenge the defending à Âza Shintarà  Saità Â. On October 1, 2019, Nagase won Game 3 of the 67th à Âza title match to complete a three game swept of Saità Â. The win not only gave Nagase his first à Âza title and made him a 2-crown major title holder for the first time, but also meant he satisfied the promotion criteria for the rank of 8-dan.
Nagase was unable to defend his Eià  title in 2020, losing the 5th Eià  title match to challenger Masayuki Toyoshima on September 21, 2020, 4 games to 3. The two players actually needed nine games to determine the best-of-seven match because two of the games ended in impasse.
Nagase successfully defended his à Âza title in October 2020 by defeating Toshiaki Kubo in the 68th à Âza title match 3 games to 2. The win also meant that Nagase satisfied the criteria for promotion to 9-dan.
Nagase challenged the reigning à Âshà  Akira Watanabe for the 70th à Âshà  title in January to March 2021, but lost the match 4 games to 2.
In SeptemberOctober 2021, Nagase successfully defended his à Âza title by defeating Kazuki Kimura 3 games to 1.
In JuneJuly 2022, Nagase challenged Sà Âta Fujii for the 93rd Kisei title, but lost the match 3 games to 1. Later that same year, Nagase successfully defended his à Âza title by defeating 3 games to 1 in the 70th à Âza match (AugustOctober 2022).
In October 2023, Nagase was defeated by in the 71st à Âza title match (AugustOctober 2023), losing 3 games to 1.
In February 2024, Nagase and met yet again, this time in the championship game of the 17th , with Nagase coming out victorious to win the tournament for the first time.
In September 2024, Nagase challenged in 72nd à Âza title match in a rematch of the previous year, but Nagase lost the match 3 games to none.
In JanuaryMarch 2025, Nagase challenged for the 74th à Âshà  title, but lost the match 4 games to 1. Nagase and Fujii met once again in 83rd Meijin title match (AprilMay 2025), with Fujii defending his Meijin crown by a score of 4 games to 1. Nagase and Fujii met in a major title match for a third time in 2025, with Nagase challenging Fujii for the à Âi Title, but lost the 66th à Âi Title Match (JulySeptember 2025) 4 games to 2.
In January 2026, Nagase challenged Fujji for à Âshà  title yet again and was actually leading the 75th à Âshà  Title Match (JanuaryMarch 2026) 3 games to 1 before Fujii came back to win the final three games and defend his title.
Nagase's promotion history is as follows:
Nagase has appeared in a major title match seventeen times and has won five titles; in addition, he has won three non-major-title championships during his career.
Nagase received the JSA's Annual Shogi Awards for "Most Consecutive Games Won" for the April 2011March 2012 shogi year; "Best New Player", "Best Winning Percentage" and "Most Consecutive Games Won" for the April 2012March 2013 shogi year; "Fighting SpiritâÂÂandâÂÂMost Consecutive Games WonâÂÂfor the April 2019March 2020 shogi year; and "Fighting Spirit" for the April 2024March 2025 shogi year.
Nagase has finished in the "Top 10" of the JSA's seven times since turning professional: fourth place with JPY 46,780,000 in earnings for 2019; third place with JPY 46,210,000 in earnings for 2020; fourth place with JPY 46,680,000 in earnings for 2021; fourth place with JPY 48,210,000 in earnings for 2022; third place with JPY 35,090,000 in earnings for 2023; third place with JPY 30,260,000 in earnings for 2024; and second place with JPY 45,770,000 in earnings for 2025.