Just one year after producing "The Immortal Game," German master Adolf Anderssen immortalized himself once more. In 1852 in Berlin, playing against Jean Dufresne, Anderssen created a spectacular tactical masterpiece that Wilhelm Steinitz later dubbed "The Evergreen Game"—an unspoken tribute to an attacking game that would stay fresh, green, and beautiful forever.

Featuring an Evans Gambit opening, quiet piece maneuvering, and a glorious queen sacrifice leading to an inescapable double checkmate, the Evergreen Game offers timeless lessons in tactics, tactical imagery, and line calculation. In this breakdown, we explore every critical turn of this historical masterpiece available for review on LocalChess.

The Evans Gambit: Fueling the Fire

The game opened with the Evans Gambit, one of the sharpest weapons of the 19th century:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4!?

By sacrificing the b-pawn on move 4, White lures Black’s dark-squared bishop off the c5-f2 diagonal, allowing White to build an immediate central wall with c3 and d4, while opening diagonals for the light-squared bishop and queen via Qb3.

4... Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d3?

Dufresne returned the pawn with 7... d3?, trying to disrupt White's central formation. However, this permitted Anderssen to accelerate his piece development on the kingside and center.

The Middlegame Setup: Building Tactical Pressure

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+!?

Anderssen deployed his pieces with ruthless precision. He pinned Dufresne's knight on e7 with 11. Ba3, launched his rooks along open files, and pushed his central forces forward. Dufresne tried to counter on the queenside, but Anderssen ignored defensive worries and pushed straight into Black’s king.

With 17. Nf6+!?, Anderssen unleashed a positional knight sacrifice to rupture Black’s kingside pawns:

17... gxf6 18. exf6 Rg8

Black accepted the knight and aimed his own rook along the open g-file toward Anderssen's king. It appeared as though Black was mounting an unstoppable counter-attack on g2.

The Evergreen Combination: Step-by-Step

This brings us to move 19, where Anderssen initiated one of the most brilliant forced combinations in chess literature:

19. Rad1!!
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#

A quiet move of unbelievable depth! Instead of defending his knight on f3, Anderssen calmly placed his queen's rook on d1, setting a deadly trap. Dufresne, seeing White's knight undefended, grabbed the knight with 19... Qxf3, threatening mate on g2.

20. Rxe7+! Nxe7

Anderssen sacrificed his rook on e7, forcing Black's knight to step into a fatal blocking position, cutting off Black's defense of the d7 square.

21. Qxd7+!!

The crown jewel of the combination! Anderssen sacrifices his queen! Black has no choice but to capture: 21... Kxd7.

22. Bf5+!

Double check! The king is attacked simultaneously by Anderssen's light-squared bishop on f5 and the rook on d1. Because it is a double check, Black cannot block or capture either piece—the king MUST move!

  • If 22... Ke8 23. Bd7+ Kf8 24. Bxe7#
  • If 22... Kc6 23. Bd7#

Dufresne played 22... Ke8, whereupon Anderssen effortlessly played 23. Bd7+ Kf8 24. Bxe7#, completing an immortal mating net!

Key Tactical Lessons from the Evergreen Game

Analyzing Anderssen vs. Dufresne grants players essential insights into high-level tactical calculation:

  1. The Power of Double Check: When a double check is delivered, the opponent is legally forced to move their king. This allows for unstoppable mating sequences even when down heavy material.
  2. Deflection Sacrifices: The queen sacrifice on d7 deflected the Black king away from safety and drew it into the line of fire of White's rooks and bishops.
  3. Calculating Beyond Surface Threats: Anderssen allowed Black to threaten mate on g2 because he calculated that his own attack was one tempo faster.

Elevate Your Tactics on LocalChess

The Evergreen Game stands as living proof that dynamic calculation and creative visualization win games. You don't need a supercomputer to spot brilliant tactics—you need clear principles, open-file awareness, and pattern recognition.

Practice tactical puzzles, study classic opening gambits like the Evans Gambit, and review your games on LocalChess today!