Andria Dadiani

Andria Dadiani ( ანდრია დადიანი; born October 24, 1850 in Zugdidi; † 12 June 1910 in Kiev), also known by its Russian name Andrei Davidovich Dadian - Mingrelski (Russian: Андрей Давидович Дадиани ), was a Georgian nobility to and prominent patron of chess. In chess literature it is usually called Prince Dadian of Samegrelo. He was himself a strong amateur, but the exact skill level is unclear.

Origin

Andria Dadiani was the younger son of the Prince of Samegrelo David Dadiani and a brother of Niko Dadiani, with his abdication in 1857 ( and the annexation Mingreliens by the Russian Empire ) ended the rule of the royal family Dadiani.

Chess player and patron

The game of chess learned Andria Dadiani from his parents. After he received his doctorate in 1873 at the Law Faculty of the University of Heidelberg, he went into the Imperial Russian Army. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general. In 1880 he carried out a duel against the Italian champions Serafino Dubois, who is said to have ended in a draw. Prince Dadian won the amateur chess tournaments to St. Petersburg 1881/82 and Kiev in 1904. Primarily, however, he emerged as a supporter of several international chess tournaments.

From him a number of short games have survived, most of which contain spectacular combinations. Sometimes they were by leading masters, including Wilhelm Steinitz, published and commented on. The games were, however, it is at any rate suspected, wholly or partially constructed. The same is true for possible match-fixing in matches against well-known master player. However, this has already been collected by contemporaries allegations until today have not been clarified. Reported also is an incident with the Master tournament of Monte Carlo in 1903, in which Prince Dadian led the tournament committee. He then procured by means of a personal monetary payment to the exclusion of the Russian master Mikhail Chigorin because it had " repeatedly insulted in the press," the prince.

In collaboration with Emanuel Schiffer Prince Dadian published in 1903 a book of one hundred selected combinations. The names of the defeated enemy of him are in just as little known as the place and date of games played. The publication, which appeared in small circulation, can be considered as the first chess book a Georgian master.

Works

• Fins de partie de S.A.S. le Prince Dadian de Mingrelie, Kiev 1903