The Evergreen Game: Move by Move
The Evergreen Game — Adolf Anderssen vs Jean Dufresne, Berlin, 1852. Anderssen crowned an Evans Gambit with a quiet rook move and a queen sacrifice, in a game Steinitz dubbed "evergreen". Here is the whole game, move by move, with the key positions on a board and what each one teaches.
The game at a glance
Played more than 174 years ago, The Evergreen Game remains one of the most studied games in chess. The Evergreen Game is Adolf Anderssen's other masterpiece — a companion to his Immortal Game, played a year later against Jean Dufresne in Berlin. Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion, called it "an evergreen in the laurel crown" of the great German master, and the name stuck. It grows out of an Evans Gambit and finishes with one of the most admired combinations of the 19th century: a quiet rook centralisation followed by a queen sacrifice that forces a forced mate.
Here is the complete game in one line, so you can replay it on any board:
How it began
The game was an Evans Gambit. The Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4) is a Romantic branch of the Italian Game: White sacrifices a wing pawn to gain time and build a big centre with c3 and d4. Anderssen gets exactly the roaring initiative the gambit promises, sacrificing further material to keep Black's king stuck in the centre.
The turning point
This is the position where the game turns — it is White to move. Study it before reading on: where is the enemy king, and which pieces can reach it?
The critical moments:
- 19. Rad1 — !! — the famous quiet move. Instead of grabbing material, Anderssen brings his last rook to the open d-file. Suddenly every white piece is aimed at the black king and the combination becomes unstoppable.
- 21. Qxd7+ — !! — the queen sacrifice that gives the game its lustre, dragging the black king into a mating net.
- 24. Bxe7# — checkmate, delivered by two bishops after the king is hauled across the board.
The finish
After 19.Rad1! Anderssen ignores threats to his own king and plays for mate. The finish 20.Rxe7+ Nxe7 21.Qxd7+!! Kxd7 22.Bf5+ Ke8 23.Bd7+ Kf8 24.Bxe7# is a forced sequence of stunning precision — the two bishops weaving a net around the black king.
What you can learn from it
The Evergreen Game teaches two lessons at once. First, the power of a quiet move inside a combination: not every strong move is a check or capture — sometimes bringing one more piece to the party (19.Rad1) is the killer. Second, that the initiative in an open position is worth more than a pawn or two, exactly as gambit play promises.
The best way to absorb a classic is to play it out move by move and ask, at each turn, why — why this piece, why this square, why not something safer. The same questioning habit is what turns your own games into lessons. If tactics like these slip past you in your games, read how chess pattern recognition works and why you keep blundering. To see where these ideas come from in the opening, browse the openings library and the opening-traps library.
Analyse your own games like this
You do not need to play an immortal game to improve — you need to understand your own. Chess DNA analyses your real Chess.com and Lichess games the way commentators analyse these classics: it finds the exact moments you gained or lost the advantage, names the tactical patterns behind them, and shows you the fixes. It is free and takes about a minute to connect your games and see your own turning points.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Evergreen Game?
The Evergreen Game is Adolf Anderssen's other masterpiece — a companion to his Immortal Game, played a year later against Jean Dufresne in Berlin. It was played by Adolf Anderssen (White) against Jean Dufresne (Black) at Berlin, 1852, opening with the Evans Gambit. The full game runs: 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#.
Who won The Evergreen Game?
Adolf Anderssen won (1–0). Jean Dufresne was on the losing side. The game is remembered less for the result than for how it was won — a textbook example of Evans Gambit attack that is still taught today.
Why is The Evergreen Game so famous?
Anderssen crowned an Evans Gambit with a quiet rook move and a queen sacrifice, in a game Steinitz dubbed "evergreen". The Evergreen Game teaches two lessons at once. That combination of drama and instructive content is why it has been reprinted and analysed for generations.
What opening was played in The Evergreen Game?
It was an Evans Gambit (ECO C52). The Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4) is a Romantic branch of the Italian Game: White sacrifices a wing pawn to gain time and build a big centre with c3 and d4. Anderssen gets exactly the roaring initiative the gambit promises, sacrificing further material to keep Black's king stuck in the centre.
Can studying The Evergreen Game help me improve at chess?
Yes. Replaying annotated classics trains your pattern recognition — you absorb how strong players develop, sacrifice and attack. The trick is to guess each move before you see it and ask why. Then apply the same questions to your own games; a tool like Chess DNA can point out the exact moments where those patterns would have helped you.
