 As an elementary school student, Abe was interested in both Go and shogi.He was a big fan of the manga series "Hikaru no Go" and actually wanted to become a Go professional, but switched his focus to shogi after finding Go too difficult to learn.He started attending a formal shogi class at local department store when he was a fourth grade elementary school student, and won the 5th in 2006 as a sixth-grader.