Chess players were originally a well-paid profession in Japan, but with the continuous decline of social economy and the popularity of Go, the life situation of ordinary Japanese chess players is much worse than before, and it has become the norm to seek their own way out. One of them who has gone the furthest is Naoki Hachiman, who was born in 2000 in Kansai Chess Academy. According to his colleague's social media disclosure, Naoki Hachiman is the first professional chess player to work part-time as a wine cowherd.
Naoki Hachiman work photo. (Note: The Japanese cowherd, also known as the male public relations or host, is a legal custom profession in Japan, the job is to drink and chat with customers, the service is mainly emotional and psychological companionship, and the income mainly comes from the alcohol commission.) ）
A photo of Hachiman after entering the paragraph.
A photo of Hachiman's part-time job.
Naoki Hachiman was born in Osaka on September 10, 2000, and studied under Kurahashi Masayuki Kudan, known as "Go Kimura Takuya" at the Kansai Chess Academy, and was promoted to 3rd dan in June 2015, 2nd dan in November 2019, and 3rd dan in March 2024. The best result since becoming a professional chess player is to enter the second round (round of 16) of the 43rd rookie Wang Zhan tournament in Japan in 2018.
Naoki Hachiman in 2017 in the competition.
In 2020, Naoki Hachiman defeated two new stars, Sumire Nakayi and Kotaro Fukuoka, in the Japan qualifiers for the 7th GLOBIS Cup World U20 Championship, and competed side by side with Kotaro Seki and Misaki Ueno (second from right in the picture), which was the highlight of his Go career.
Naoki Hachiman defeated Sumire Nakayi in the chess game. It was the first time that the GLOBIS Cup was held online, and after entering the tournament, Hachiman lost in the first round to Chinese Taipei's Lai Junfu.
Judging from the changes in photos and makeup in different periods, around 2020, Naoki Hachiman chose a new life of part-time drinking and chatting. According to his personal introduction, Naoki Hachiman has excellent business ability, and is known as the "highest record holder in the store" and has become "a player with 110 named books".
The following is a set of photos of Naoki Hachiman Cowherd:
But unlike other players who have completely changed careers, Naoki Hachiman has not given up his active status and has always insisted on participating in tournaments. In 2024, he not only managed to rise to the third dan, but also achieved a good result of 5 wins and 2 losses. However, since 2021, Hachiman has abstained in one or two sets every year, and in March 2024, he was 30 minutes late in the 10-dan qualifier for the half-sighted defeat to Soigo Takashima 4dan, which may have something to do with his new job.
In August 2021, Naoki Hachiman faced Yu Masaki, the first person in the Kansai Chess Academy.
In October 2022, Naoki Hachiman played against veteran Tetsuya Kiyosei.
When Go cannot constitute all the support of life, how should professionals who are immersed in it deal with themselves? This is a problem that most chess players face at different stages of their lives. The pyramid has a spire and a base, and all the beings who fall into the black and white world, do they stick to it or give up? On May 1, 2024, a 1999-born Kuwabara Hakuwabara Sandan of the Japan Chess Academy decided not to participate in the tournament, citing the decline in the status and living standards of chess players: "The long-cherished title has lost a major goal in life due to the shrinkage of the Fang War, and it is not surprising that other competitions will follow suit...... This is just the tip of the iceberg, and it is difficult to play chess simply in such an environment," so he decided to work as an employee at another company.
Hayao Kuwabara and Ryuhei Onishi, who met in 2019 in the Dragon Star Wars tournament in Japan, have now retired from the competition.
The same difficult choice was made in Naoki Hachiman, who briefly opened a Go class in 2019, but the barren market for the popularity of Go in Japan was far from satisfactory, and Hachiman eventually embarked on a path completely unrelated to Go. But he didn't let go completely, which can only be said to be a trace of stubborn confrontation and unwillingness to love his heart and the cold reality.