Prince Dadian Games, Pt. V
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I recently came across some games of Prince Andrei Dadian of Mingrelia that I hadn't seen in any database. I had published some of them elsewhere, but wanted to put them all into this series. This entry only includes one game I never found in a database. The game was published in the BCM Nov. 1897 along with a well-known game Prince Dadian played vs M. Bitcham. I decided to replicate the entire article below (along with annotations by Rev. Charles E. Ranken):
  WE wonder how many of our readers know where Mingrelia is. It is a province of Asiatic Russia, lying between the chain of the Caucasus and the Black Sea. It has, we believe, a language of its own, and the Dadian or Prince, we understand, is the titular ruler. Obscure though his country may be, the name of the Prince is known throughout the chess world as that of an original and brilliant player. He has been good enough to send us a selection of his games, which from time to time, as space permits, we shall have much pleasure in publishing. We have also received from a correspondent some account of his Most Serene Highness' life, from which we gather the following particulars. He was born at Zondidi, the capital of Mingrelia, and from infancy displayed an extraordinary liking for various branches of science. His family used to spend the winters at Paris, and from the age of 14 the Prince began to write good French verse, and as an exercise to compose fictitious tales which astonished his Professors. Endowed with a powerful memory, he can recite an immense quantity of poetry; he speaks six modern languages, and his erudition is known throughout Europe. He has played chess from his boyhood, and at Vienna, in 1882, after the banquet which took place at the close of the International Tourney there, he played a blindfold game with such accuracy that the masters who were present applauded him heartily. Nevertheless, on account of his other occupations the Prince rarely plays chess, and is far from having the practice of other masters. His end-games are very beautiful, and will remain as chéf-d'oeuvres in the literature of chess.
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