The Evergreen Game
1-0 · White won
Casual game, Berlin
1852 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Dufresne Defense (C52)
The Romantic Era
⚙ Stockfish 18 · depth 16
White 90.7%
Black 84.3%
♞
Jean Dufresne
♘
Adolf Anderssen
Moves
Legends
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.23.24. 1-0
Raw PGN
[Event "Casual game, Berlin"] [Site "Berlin GER"] [Date "1852.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Anderssen, Adolf"] [Black "Dufresne, Jean"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.O-O d3 8.Qb3 Qf6 9.e5 Qg6 10.Re1 Nge7 11.Ba3 b5 12.Qxb5 Rb8 13.Qa4 Bb6 14.Nbd2 Bb7 15.Ne4 Qf5 16.Bxd3 Qh5 17.Nf6+ gxf6 18.exf6 Rg8 19.Rad1 Qxf3 20.Rxe7+ Nxe7 21.Qxd7+ Kxd7 22.Bf5+ Ke8 23.Bd7+ Kf8 24.Bxe7# 1-0
The Story
A year after the Immortal Game, Anderssen produced its only rival — against his own student, Jean Dufresne, in a Berlin coffeehouse. Steinitz later called it "the evergreen in Anderssen\'s laurel wreath", and the name stuck: the Evergreen Game.
The finish is the most studied mating combination of the 19th century. With his own king under direct attack — Black\'s queen has just captured a knight on f3, threatening mate — Anderssen plays 20.Rxe7+ and 21.Qxd7+!!, sacrificing the queen to drag the black king into a crossfire of two bishops. Generations of annotators have debated whether Black could have defended earlier; no one has ever doubted the beauty of what actually happened.