Masakazu Kondō (近藤 正和, Kondō Masakazu, May 31, 1971)is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 7-dan.
He is known for developing the set of Cheerful Central Rook openings.
Kondō was born on May 31, 1971, in Kashiwazaki, Niigata.
[1] He entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school in 1983 at the rank of 6-kyū under the guidance of shogi professional Yasuo Harada [ja] .
[2] Kondō's promotion history is as follows:[3] Kondō received the Japan Shogi Association the Masuda Award for 2001 as well as the Annual Shogi Awards for "Best Winning Percentage" and "Most Consecutive Games Won" for 2004.