is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 8-dan. He is a former holder of the à Âi title.
Tatsuya Suga was born on April 17, 1992, in Mitsu, Okayama. He learned how to play shogi from his father when he was about five years old. He entered into the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyà « as a student of shogi professional Keita Inoue in September 2004 and obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan in April 2010 after winning the 46th 3-dan League (October 2009March 2010) with a record of 15 wins and 3 losses.
In 2011, Sugai as a 19-year-old 4-dan defeated Yasuaki Murayama in the championship game of the 5th to win his first tournament championship as shogi professional.
In October 2015, Sugai defeated apprentice shogi professional 3-dan Takahiro à Âhashi 2 games to 1 to win the 46th tournament for players ranked 6-dan or lower. Sugai lost the first game of the match but then won the next two.
Sugai's first appearance in a major title match came in 2017 when he defeated Yoshiharu Habu to win the 58th à Âi title. The following year, however, he was unable to successfully defend his title against Masayuki Toyoshima, losing the 59th à Âi title match 4 games to 3.
In December 2021, Sugai defeated Akira Watanabe to win the 29th Ginga tournament. A few months later in February 2022, he defeated Akira Inaba to win the 15th , also for the first time.
In March 2023, Sugai defeated Takuya Nagase in the finals of the 8th Eià  challenger tournament to advance to the 8th Eià  title match (April 2023May 2023) against reigning Eià  Sà Âta Fujii. Although Sugai was able to win Game 2 of the match to even the match at one game apiece, Fujii won the next two games to win match 3 games to 1. The final game of the match, however, included two sennichite games, which meant it took three games that day to reach a conclusive result.
Later in 2023, Sugai won the 73rd à Âshà  League (SeptemberNovember 2024) with a record of 5 wins and 1 loss in his first season of league play. Sugai's win meant he earned the right to challenge once again, this time for the 73rd à Âshà  title. His good form, however, did not continue and he lost the 73rd à Âshà  title match (JanuaryFebruary 2024) 4 games to none.
The promotion history for Sugai is as follows:
Sugai has appeared in four major title matches to date and has won one title. He has also won four non-title shogi championships during his career.
Sugai has received the following Japan Shogi Association Annual Shogi Awards: "Best New Player" (2011), "Best Winning Percentage" (2014), "Most Games Won" (2014), âÂÂKà Âzà  Masuda Awardâ (2014), and "Fighting-spirit" (2021).
Sugai has finished in the "Top 10" of the JSA's six times: 7th with JPY 23,630,000 in earnings in 2017; 9th with JPY 21,930,000 in earnings in 2018; 10th with JPY 16,740,000 in earnings in 2021; and 7th with JPY 19,700,000 in earnings in 2022. and 7th with JPY 19,590,000 in earnings in 2023; and 9th with JPY 16,480,000 in earnings in 2024.