About this game
The Evergreen Game, explained
Adolf Anderssen vs Jean Dufresne · Berlin, 1852 · Evans Gambit
A year after the Immortal Game, Anderssen played a combination so enduring that Wilhelm Steinitz later called the game 'the evergreen in the laurel wreath' of the German champion. His opponent, Jean Dufresne, was one of his own students.
From an Evans Gambit, White gives a pawn for a big centre and open lines toward Black's king. Both sides attack: by move 19 Dufresne's queen and rook are aimed at White's kingside and 19...Qxf3 threatens mate on g2. Anderssen's reply is the move the game is remembered for — not a capture or a check, but the quiet rook move 19.Rad1, played a move earlier, preparing a combination whose point only appears three moves later.
After 20.Rxe7+ Nxe7 comes 21.Qxd7+!! — a full queen sacrifice. 21...Kxd7 is forced, and the prepared machinery takes over: 22.Bf5+ is a double check from bishop and rook, the one kind of check that cannot be blocked or answered by capturing. The king must walk, and 23.Bd7+ Kf8 24.Bxe7# ends it. Every White piece in the final position stands on a square the quiet 19.Rad1 made possible.
The key moments
- 19.Rad1!
- The famous quiet move. While Black threatens mate, Anderssen improves his last piece — the rook's arrival on d1 is the hinge of the entire combination.
- 19...Qxf3?
- Black grabs the knight and renews the mate threat on g2, but the greed loses by force. The engine prefers defending with 19...Rg4.
- 21.Qxd7+!!
- The queen sacrifice that unlocks the king. 21...Kxd7 is forced, dragging the king onto the d-file — straight into the rook placed there two moves earlier.
- 22.Bf5+
- Double check from bishop and rook. The king cannot capture, block, or stand still — it must move into the mating net.
- 24.Bxe7#
- The two bishops finish it: one guards the escape squares, the other delivers mate.
What to take from it
The Evergreen Game teaches the value of the quiet move inside a combination. Anderssen didn't win with the loudest capture available — he won because 19.Rad1 put his last piece on the perfect square before the fireworks began. When you calculate a sacrifice, look for the preparation move that makes it actually work.
The board above is a full interactive review of this game: every move is engine-checked, and you can ask the coach why any move works — or test your own idea and have it graded. When you’re done with the classics, review your own games the same way.
The full game
Evans Gambit (C52) · 1852
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