Prince Andria Dadiani ( ka, ანდრია დადიანი; 1850–1910), known in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

as Andrey Davidovich Dadian-Mingrelsky (), was a Georgian nobleman and a chess player. A member of a

Mingrelia Mingrelia or Samegrelo ( ka, სამეგრელო, tr ; ) is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly known as Odishi. It is primarily inhabited by the Mingrelians, a subgroup of Georgians. Geography and climate Mingr ...

n (Western Georgia) princely family, son of prince

David Dadiani David Dadiani ( ka, დავით დადიანი; 23 January 1813 – 30 August 1853), of the House of Dadiani, was Prince of Mingrelia, in western Georgia, from 1846 until his death in 1853. A son of Levan V Dadiani, he became ''de fact ...

and his wife princess

Ekaterine Chavchavadze Ekateriné Dadiani, Princess of Mingrelia ( ka, ეკატერინე დადიანი; ''née'' Chavchavadze; March 19, 1816August 13, 1882) of the House of Dadiani, was a prominent 19th-century Nobility of Georgia (country), Georgian ...

, Andria Dadiani was born in

Zugdidi Zugdidi ( ka, ზუგდიდი ; or ზუგიდი) is a city in the western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia). It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kilometres west of Tbilisi, 3 ...

, W. Georgia. He graduated from

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

Faculty of Law in 1873. Later, he served as a

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

of the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

. Andrei Dadiani learned to play chess from his parents. In 1864 he met

Thomas Wilson Barnes Thomas Wilson Barnes (1825–1874) was an English chess master, one of the leading British masters of his time. Chess history Barnes was one of the leading British chess masters at the time of Paul Morphy's visit to the UK in 1858. Barnes had ...

while vacationing in Homberg, Germany. Under Barnes's tutelage, Dadian won his first tournament at Homberg that year. In 1867 Dadian met Ignatz Kolisch who had just won the Paris tournament. He played Kolisch and won a few games. Prince Andrei Dadiani was a chess player, sponsor and organizer. He sponsored and played in the first Kiev chess tournament of 1900, attaining second place behind Nikolaev and sponsored the 2nd (1902) and 3rd(1903) all-Russian tournaments in Kiev. He helped sponsor or organize the Belle Epoch chess tournaments at Monte Carlo in 1901, 1902 and 1903 and Barmen in 1905. Due to his position, Dadiani participated in very few tournaments. Besides winning amateur tournament Homberg in 1864 and placing second in Kiev 1900, he came in first in St. Petersburg 1881–82. He is also said to have played in a tournament in Rome between 1867 and 1881, but this is unsubstantiated. Many of his games were published by Numa Preti in "La Strategie" and by

William Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was a Bohemian-Austrian, and later American, chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and ch ...

in his ''International Chess Magazine''. ''British Chess Magazine'' dedicated its June–July 1892 issue to Dadiani. In 1903,

Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also ''Tchigorin''; ; – ) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great player of the Romantic chess style, he also served as a ma ...

was invited to the Monte Carlo tournament. Dadiani, operating under the idea that Chigorin had insulted him on an earlier occasion, refused to sponsor the tournament if Chigorin remained. The committee honored Dadiani's wishes and excluded Chigorin. Dadiani did indemnify Chigorin for the inconvenience to the sum of 1500 francs, which was slightly more than the value of third prize. After his death, some people accused Dadiani of having falsified or pre-arranged his brilliancies. Although none of these claims have even been substantiated, it ''is'' known that he remunerated Steinitz and Preti for publishing his games and was later accused by Fedor Duz-Chotimirski of sending in his own wins while covering up his opponents wins.. Thus, it is hard to establish how good a chess-player he really was. Emmanuel Schiffers published a book of Prince Dadiani's end-games, ''Fins de Partie de S.A.S. le Prince Dadian de Mingrelie'' (Kiev, 1903) and Tengiz Giorgadze published "Ygraet A. Dadiani" ("Play Andrey Dadiani") in "Soviet Georgia" (Tbilisi, 1972).

References

External links

Prince Andrei Dadiani
at Edo Historical Chess Ratings
Lesser Known Games of Prince Dadian

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dadani, Andria Chess players from the Russian Empire Dadiani, Andria Dadiani, Andria Dadiani, Andria

Andria Andria (; Barese: ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Apulia region of Southern Italy. It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind ...

Georgian generals in the Imperial Russian Army Georgian lieutenant generals (Imperial Russia) 19th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire 19th-century chess players