『Yaichi Kuzuryuu』

The main protagonist of the series. Yaichi is a sixteen-year-old who won the Ryūō title match at a young age. He is the current youngest Ryūō. Initially, he was overwhelmed by his title and perceived pressure to avoid playing in a"disgraceful" manner. He has a calm personality and often doesn't take things seriously unless they are related to shogi. He was taken aback by Ai's talent and determination, and the way she continues to fight and seek a way to victory has helped inspire him. Yaichi is often wrongly accused of being a lolicon due to the affection he gains from young girls like Ai and her friends Mio, Ayano, and Charlotte in her shogi training group. Despite their affections for him, he is oblivious to their true feelings for him. Yaichi tries to be a good master to his disciples and does his best to teach the easiest steps so that his disciples can catch on quickly. He seems to have feelings for Keika as seen in some episodes of the anime. His play style basically sticks with Static Rook, famous for using Sente's Double Wing Attack and Gote's Tempo Loss Bishop Exchange strategies.

While sometimes it is misunderstood that his name"Yaichi" refers to the eighty-one koma on the shogi board, it actually refers to his birthday, August 1st. He is sometimes called as Kuzu-Ryūō(クズ竜王, Kuzuryūō, lit."Scrap-Ryūō","Scrap-Dragon King") in the story. Starting from Volume 6, it is implied that stunned by the talent of Yaichi after his 4-3 comeback victory against the Meijin from a 0-3 deficit, the players in Kantō, the East side of Japan, start calling him with a new nickname, which in the story is deliberately hidden from readers as something-"King", and also not known by Yaichi himself because he avoids reading the comments about him on the Internet. The nickname is finally revealed to readers at the very end of Volume 12.