He was a member of the Urusov noble family, holding the title of Prince (Knyaz), and an officer in the Tsarist army.

He fought in the Crimean War in 1854–55, and was awarded the Order of Saint George for bravery during the Siege of Sevastopol.

During the war he met Leo Tolstoy; the two became long term friends, exchanging frequent correspondence.

There were few organised tournaments at the time, so his chess activity consisted primarily of individual matches.

He was considered the second strongest Russian player after Petrov, who beat him again in 1859 by a score of +13 −7 =1; the same year he won matches against Shumov and Viktor Mikhailov.