He loves watching cartoons, gorging on butter masala dosa and is as jovial as most of the 7-year-olds you will come across. What sets Adhiraj Mitra apart is that he is the youngest international Fide-rated chess player in Jharkhand.

The international chess body on Thursday evening announced a rating of 1,336 for Adhiraj, a student of Class II of Loyola School. “Players crossing the 1,000-mark are eligible for international ratings,” said Jayant Kumar Bhuyan, an experienced chess arbiter from Jamshedpur.

Adhiraj was below the 1,000-mark, but his rating jumped after he won the All India Fide rating tournament (in the U-7 age group) held in Chaibasa, West Singhbhum, earlier this month and fulfilled the eligibility criteria.

“It’s a big day for us. My son becoming the youngest in the state to achieve the international rating is a proud moment for us. We hope Adhiraj makes more progress in the world of chess. We are very optimistic about it,” his father Uttam, a businessman, said.

Sonari residents Uttam and his wife Runa are accompanying Adhiraj to Durgapur in Bengal where an All India Fide rating tournament is currently underway.

Adhiraj is competing in the U-9 category and his rating may increase further depending on his performance.

“Adhiraj is our only child and we are backing him to the hilt so that he becomes a big chess player and earn laurels for his country. He is also good in studies,” Runa, a homemaker, said.

The budding chess talent won his opening match in Durgapur and seems to be in good form. “I love playing chess. I want to win more tournaments,” said Adhiraj who works over six hours daily on chess boards.

The 7-year-old trains under his maternal uncles Abhishek Das and Dushyant Das, both international-rated players, at Jharkhand Chess Academy. He has won several local and state level tournaments and is set to carve out a bright chess future for himself.

Adhiraj started playing chess over a year back and has made satisfactory progress. He claimed Seraikela-Kharsawan district open chess event (U-6) last year and followed it up with a triumph in a local tournament in U-7 and U-8 categories. Adhiraj also emerged winner in a children’s event (U-8) held in Bangalore.

He pocketed the U-7 title in the All India Open Fide rating event held in Ranchi earlier this year before notching up the title (U-7) in a state FIDE rating tournament in Hazaribagh. He finished runner-up in All India rating event in Cuttack and later bagged the top slot (U-8) in the district event held in Jamshedpur.