Andria Dadiani (1850–1910), known in Russia

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 as Andrey Davidovich Dadian-Mingrelsky , was a Georgian

Georgians

The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....

 nobleman and a chess player.

Member of a Mingrelian (Western Georgia) princely family of Svan descent, he was born in Zugdidi

Zugdidi

Zugdidi is a city in the Western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo . It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kilometres west of Tbilisi, 30 km. from Black sea coast and 30 km. from Egrisi range. 100-110 metres above sea level. As of 2007, it had a...

, W. Georgia. He graduated from Heidelberg University Faculty of Law in 1873. Later, he served as a lieutenant-general of the Russian army

Imperial Russian Army

The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...

.

He had played at Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 and Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

 tournaments before he won the Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 amateur chess tournament in 1881-1882.

He was the president of the 1903-1904 Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....

 international tournaments and according to the common, though unreliable beliefs, invited the Russian chess master Mikhail Chigorin

Mikhail Chigorin

Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...

to play but later paid him 1,500 francs (greater than 3rd prize money) not to play because Chigorin had published analysis of one of the Prince's games, pointing out he had made gross errors. A valuable art object was to go to the winner of a short match between the 1st and 2nd place finishers (Tarrasch and Maroczy). The players wanted a play for money also. This annoyed the Prince who gave the art object to the 3rd place finisher (Pillsbury). According to more accurate accounts, Dadiani refused to remain part of the tournament, physically and financially, if Chigorin had been allowed to participate. Chigorin, who had traveled to Monte Carlo in good faith, was expediently removed from the list. Dadiani paid him the $1500 in compensation.

External links

• Prince Andre Dadian at Edo Historical Chess Ratings