Toshiyuki Nakao

Toshiyuki Nakao (中尾 敏之) is a Japanese retired professional shogi player who achieved the rank of 5-dan.

Early life and apprenticeship
Nakao was born on October 24, 1974, in Fuji, Shizuoka. He learned how to play shogi from his father when he was an elementary school first grade student. As a third grade junior high school student, Nakano entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice professional school in September 1989 at the rank of 6-kyū under the tutelage of shogi professional Hisao Hirotsu, and was awarded regular professional status and the rank of 4-dan on October 1, 1998 after finishing second behind Shin'ya Yamamoto in the 23rd Apprentice School 3-dan League (April 1998 –September 1998) with a record of 12 wins and 6 losses.

Shogi professional
Nakao retired from professional shogi on August 13, 2018. His career record was 186 wins and 260 losses for a winning percentage of 0.417.

Promotion history
The promotion history for Nakao was as follows:
 * 6-kyū: 1989
 * 1-dan: 1993
 * 4-dan: October 1, 1998
 * 5-dan: May 9, 2007
 * Retired: August 13, 2019
 * 6-dan: April 1, 2019

Awards and honors
Nakao received the JSA's Annual Shogi Award "Game of the Year Special Prize" (April 2017 –March 2018 shogi year) in April 2018 for his game against Mitsunori Makino.