Chinese boy qualifies to train to become professional shogi player

TOKYO, Aug. 25 Kyodo -
A 14-year-old Chinese boy on Wednesday qualified to train to become a
professional player of shogi, a traditional Japanese board game similar to
chess, becoming the first foreign national living abroad to do so.
Zhang Xin, a resident of Shanghai, passed a series of tests and a written exam
and interview in Tokyo between Monday and Wednesday during the screening
process of a Japan Shogi Association group that nurtures professional shogi
players.
While there have been cases of foreigners qualifying to join the group in the
past, they were all residents of Japan, the association said.
Zhang, a native of Fuzhou in Fujian Province, started learning to play shogi
when he was about 7 years old. He went through the screening twice before but
failed to qualify in those attempts.
''It was hard to pass (the tests),'' said Zhang, adding that he will ''continue
to work hard'' toward the goal of becoming a professional shogi player.
==Kyodo