13 May 2014

Prince Dadian's Endgames

A few days in my eBay series I posted Capablanca Letters++, but there was another item on the short list worthy of attention. My main interest in it was the color plate, pictured below, which I couldn't find elsewhere on the web. The eBay title was 'E Schiffers, Fins de partie du Prince Dadian de Mingrélie' [Endgames of Prince Dadian], and it sold for US $1525 after four bids.


Prince Dadian

The eBay description added,

E. Schiffers, Fins de partie du Prince Dadian de MingrĂ©lie • Kiev 1903; Title + 2 leaves + 7-215p; 102 full page diagrams in gold, red, blue and green; Red and gold leather binding; Hinges partly loose o/w as new; Only 50 copies printed; M Niemeijer in his 1970 Catalog: " A great rarity"; DeLucia´s Chess Catalog estimate 1000-1500 USD.

For more about Prince Dadian, see Prince Andrey Dadian of Mingrelia on Chessgames.com; 'Overall record: +38 -0 =0'. Also The Prince of Mingrelia, Part I on Chess.com, including 'Prince Dadian's Unknown Games' on the sidebar: a series by the popular chess historian once featured on this blog in Best of Batgirl.

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