And there were plenty of adults who played against him at the South Island Chess Championships in Dunedin yesterday who will vouch for that.
The Russian-born player now lives in Christchurch and has been playing for the past five years.
He plays other competitors from all over the world online and has a Chess.com Elo ranking of 1800.
Asked if that meant he was any good at the game of strategy, he avoided overplaying his hand and just said: "Yeah, I’m a tiny bit good".
He has dreams of becoming a chess grandmaster one day.
"I love the game. It’s interesting.
"The best bit is beating people, and it doesn’t require any physical violence or anything like that.
"It’s a battle of minds — that’s what I like most about it."
The only thing he disliked about the game was there were very few people his own age who could play the game well.
"My friends — I don’t think they even know what chess is.
"One of my best friends plays chess, but he’s very bad — like, he blunders every piece.
"So I’m having a lot of fun here at the chess championships because I’m playing against really good people."
And so far in the championship, he had finished every game in a draw with his opponents, the majority of whom were adults.
"That’s good, because technically I’m not being beaten."
The championships continue at the Leviathan Hotel today and finish tomorrow with the naming of the 2025 South Island Chess Champion.
