The Evergreen Game is a famous

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

game won by

Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (July 6, 1818 – March 13, 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. He won the great internat ...

against Jean Dufresne in 1852. This was probably an . At the time, there was no formal title of "World Champion", but the German mathematics professor Anderssen was widely considered the best player in the world after winning the first major international chess tournament in London in 1851. Though not in the same class as Anderssen, Dufresne, a popular author of chess books, was also a strong player. It is usually assumed that the game was played in Berlin, where Dufresne lived and Anderssen often visited, but no details of the game's circumstances were given in the original publication in the September and October 1852 issues of ''

Deutsche Schachzeitung ''Deutsche Schachzeitung'' (English: "''German Chess Paper''") was the first German chess magazine. Founded in 1846 by Ludwig Bledow under the title ''Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft'' and appearing monthly, it took the name ''Deutsch ...

''. Winter, Edward
''Anderssen v Dufresne: The Evergreen Game''
/ref> Anderssen, Adolf
''Gespielte Partieen 450, Zwischen Anderssen und Dufresne''
''Deutsche Schachzeitung'', September 1852 pages 338–39 & ''Schluss der Partie 450'', Oct 1852 page 383 Beginning with

Howard Staunton Howard Staunton (April 1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Ama ...

in 1853, Staunton, Howard
Chess Player's Chronicle
1853, pp. 4–11 the game has been extensively analysed over the years, particularly the critical positions before and after White's remarkable 19th move, Rad1. Although defensive resources for Black have since been found, Anderssen's

combination In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are th ...

remains much admired. After Anderssen's death in 1879,

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first official World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and c ...

published a tribute in '' The Field'' in which he annotated Anderssen's two most famous games, the Evergreen and the

Immortal Game The Immortal Game was a chess game played by Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky on 21 June 1851 in London, during a break of the first international tournament. The bold sacrifices Anderssen made have made it one of the most famous chess g ...

against

Lionel Kieseritzky Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky (russian: Лионель Адальберт Багратион Феликс Кизерицкий; – ) was a Baltic German chess master and theoretician, famous for his contributions to chess theory, ...

. Annotating 19.Rad1, Steinitz wrote, "An evergreen in the laurel crown of the departed chess hero", thus giving this game its name.

The game

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

: Anderssen Black: Dufresne Opening:

Evans Gambit The Evans Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Bc5 :4. b4 The Evans Gambit is an aggressive line of the Giuoco Piano. White offers a pawn to divert the black bishop on c5. If Black accepts ...

('' ECO'' C52) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 :The Evans Gambit, an opening popular in the 19th century and still seen occasionally today. White gives up to gain an advantage in . 4... Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. 0-0 d3 (diagram) :Black attempts to slow White's rapid development by depriving the of its preferred c3 square and forcing White to spend a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

capturing the

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

. This move was favoured by Dufresne, but is today considered inferior. Most popular today is 7...Nge7, in order to answer 8.cxd4 or 8.Ng5 with 8...d5. Other alternatives include 7...dxc3 (the risky "Compromised Defence") and 7...d6. 8. Qb3 :Immediately attacking the f7-pawn.

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

Graham Burgess Graham K. Burgess (born 24 February 1968 in Liverpool, England) is an English FIDE Master of chess and a noted writer and trainer. He became a FIDE Master at the age of twenty. He attended Birkdale High School in Southport, Merseyside. In 198 ...

suggests 8.Re1 instead. 8... Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 :White's e5-pawn cannot be taken: if 9...Nxe5, then 10.Re1 d6 11.Bg5, when 11...Qf5 (11...Qg6 12.Nxe5 dxe5 13.Rxe5+ wins the bishop) 12.Nxe5 wins the

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

(if the knight is recaptured with 12...dxe5, then 13.Qb5+ followed by 14.Rxe5+ wins). 10. Re1 (diagram) Nge7 11. Ba3 b5 :Rather than defending his own position, Black offers a counter- sacrifice to activate his a8

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

with tempo. Burgess suggests 11...a6 instead, to allow the b-pawn to advance later with tempo. 12. Qxb5 Rb8 13. Qa4 Bb6 :Black cannot castle here because 14.Bxe7 would win a piece, as the

on c6 cannot simultaneously protect the knight on e7 and the bishop on a5. 14. Nbd2 Bb7 :Black must castle without delay. 15. Ne4 Qf5? :A poor move that loses a tempo. 15...0-0 16.Bxd3 also gives White a very dangerous attack (Neishtadt, 1961). Neishtadt, Yakov
''Shakhmaty do Steinitsa''

Fizkultura i sport Fizkultura i sport (russian: Физкультура и спорт, lit. trans.: ''Physical Culture and Sports'') is a Russian publisher of sports books and magazines. It was established in 1923 in the Soviet Union, USSR. Its logo depicts the famous ...

, Moscow 1961 Better was 15...d2! 16.Nexd2 0-0 ( Lasker), although White still has a clear advantage. 16. Bxd3 Qh5 17. Nf6+ :A dramatic sacrifice, although several commentators have pointed out that 17.Ng3 Qh6 18.Bc1 Qe6 19.Bc4 wins material in a simpler way. Or 18.Nf5 and White has a clear edge. The ''

Chessmaster ''Chessmaster'' is a chess-playing computer game series, which is owned and developed by Ubisoft. It is the best-selling chess franchise in history, with more than five million units sold . Timeline *1986: '' The Chessmaster 2000''. First publ ...

'' computer program annotation says "this acrificeis not without danger, as Black now obtains an open g-file for counterplay." 17... gxf6 18. exf6 Rg8 19. Rad1! (diagram) :A somewhat controversial move, which has been both exulted and criticised over the years. It sets a deep , which Black walks into. In ''Common Sense in Chess'' (1895), the then-

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Cham ...

praised it as "one of the most subtle and profound moves on record". However, probably influenced by the analysis of

Paul Lipke Paul Lipke (30 June 1870 – 8 March 1955) was a German chess master. Lipke was born in Erfurt. In 1889, he tied for 5–6th in Breslau (6th DSB Congress, ''Hauptturnier A'', Emanuel Lasker won), and took 4th in Dessau. In 1892, he won in Dre ...

which revealed defensive possibilities for Black, he later criticised the move, saying that 19.Be4 would have won relatively easily. Lasker's analysis turned out to be faulty, however. Analysis by Jacob Murey and German Fridshtein published in the Soviet magazine '' 64'' in 1975 found that after 19.Be4 Qh3! 20.g3 Rxg3+ 21.hxg3 Qxg3+ 22.Kh1 Bxf2 23.Bxe7! (Lasker's 23.Re2? is refuted by 23...Nd4!) 23...Qh3+! 24.Nh2 Bxe1 25.Rxe1 Qh4! 26.Qd1! Nxe7 27.Bxb7 Qxf6 it is unclear whether White is winning. Subsequent analysts such as Zaitsev and Kasparov have agreed with this assessment. Murey, Jacob; Fridshtein, German;'' 64'', ''"Poistine Neuvyadayemaya"'' (''"Truly Evergreen "''), 1975, No. 38 page 11 19... Qxf3? :"Who would have played anything else here?!" (Lipke, 1898). White cannot play 20.gxf3 since the g2-pawn is pinned by the rook on g8. Black now threatens to take either on f2 or g2, both major threats to the white king, but Anderssen has a shattering resource available. :Dissatisfied with the lack of analysis in the game's original publication,

published a detailed analysis of several of Black's alternatives in the ''

Chess Player's Chronicle The ''Chess Player's Chronicle'', founded by Howard Staunton and extant in 1841–56 and 1859–62, was the world's first successful English-language magazine devoted exclusively to chess. Various unrelated but identically or similarly named publi ...

'' in 1853. Staunton analysed 19...Ne5, 19...d6, 19...Bc5, 19...Rxg2+ and 19...Qh3, concluding that Black was lost in all lines. :This was the accepted view for many years, until the German master Paul Lipke published analysis in the May and June 1898 issues of the ''Deutsche Schachzeitung''. Lipke, Paul
''Ein Blick in die Tiefen Anderssen'scher Combinationen''
''Deutsche Schachzeitung'' Vol 52, May 1898 pp. 129–34 & June 1898 pp. 161–63 Lipke recommended 19...Rg4!? for Black, concluding that it offered Black excellent drawing chances with . Lipke's main line went 19...Rg4 20.Bc4 Qf5! 21.Rxd7! Kxd7 22.Ne5+ Kc8 23.Nxg4 Nd5 24.Qd1 Nd8 25.Re5 Bxf2+ 26.Kh1 Nf4 27.h3 and now either 27...Qb1 or 27...Nxg2 will probably draw for Black. Analysis published in the early 1930s by O. Hoppe and H. Heckner found a win for White after 25.Bd3! (instead of 25.Re5), but Black can also improve with 24...Nxf6 (Kasparov). Zaitsev's 21...Rxg2+ (rather than 21...Kxd7) also appears to be sufficient for a draw. Hoppe and Heckner also found a win for White after 20.c4 Rf4? (Lipke) 21.Bg6!!. Better is 20...Bd4 (Zaitsev, ''64'', 1976) Zaitsev, Igor, '' 64'', ''V Teni "Vechnozelenoy"'' (''In the Shadow of the "Evergreen"''), 1976, No. 5 pp. 8–9 & No. 6 pp. 6–7 or 20...Rxg2+! (Kasparov). 20.Re4 has also received renewed attention as an attempt for White to gain the advantage. The final assessment of 19...Rg4 remains unclear; according to Burgess in the 2021 edition of ''The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games'', White has a slightly better endgame after 20.Re4 Rxe4 21.Qxe4 d6 22.Re1 Qg6! 23.Qxc6+ Bxc6 24.Rxe7+ Kf8 25.Bxg6 hxg6 26.Ne5! Be8. :Most analysts have followed Staunton in rejecting 19...Rxg2+?! on account of 20.Kxg2 Ne5 21.Qxd7+!!, but I.J. Good contended that after 21...Kxd7 22.Bg6+ Ke6 23.Bxh5 Rg8+ 24.Kh3! N7g6 25.Bg4+ Kxf6 26.Nxe5 Nxe5 27.Be7+ Kxe7 28.Rxe5+ Kf6 White does not have a clear win in the

endgame Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to: Film * ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film) * ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film * ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...

. :In 1958, analysis by readers of the ''Schach-Echo'' came to the conclusion that 19...Bd4 and 19...Qh3 are even better than 19...Rg4 and sufficient to force a draw. (19...Bd4 was also found independently by Zaitsev.) This view is endorsed by Burgess, who quotes the lines (a) 19...Bd4 20.cxd4 Qxf3 21.Be4 Rxg2+ 22.Kh1 Rxh2+ 23.Kxh2 Qxf2+ and (b) 19...Qh3 20.Bf1 Qf5! (not analysed by Staunton) 21.Bd3 Qh3, repeating moves in each case. 20. Rxe7+! Nxe7? :This loses instantly to a very attractive mate in four. 20...Kd8 would put up more resistance, but White should win after 21.Rxd7+ Kc8 22.Rd8+!! Kxd8 (if 22...Rxd8 23.gxf3; if 22...Nxd8 23.Qd7+ Kxd7 24.Bf5+ Ke8 25.Bd7) (Staunton, 1853) 23.Bf5+ Qxd1+ ( Rubinstein, 1921). Another way is 23.Be2+, but White must play accurately: after 23...Nd4! 24.Bxf3 Bxf3 25.Rxd4+? leads to a probable draw after 25...Bxd4 26.Qxd4+ Kc8 27.Qd3 Bxg2 28.f3 Bh3+ 29.Kf2 Rb6 30.Qxh7 Rg2+ 31.Ke3 Be6 (Levenfish, 1959). White must instead play 25.g3! (Neishtadt, 1961) Bxd1 26.Qxd1 "with a boring but winning endgame" (Kasparov). :It is unclear whether the following moves were actually played, or whether Anderssen simply "announced mate", a common practice at the time. The ''Deutsche Schachzeitung'' where the game was originally published simply said "White mates in 4 moves", without providing the actual moves. 21. Qxd7+ Kxd7 22. Bf5+ :

Double check In chess and other related games, a double check is a check delivered by two pieces simultaneously. In chess notation, it is almost always represented the same way as a single check ("+"), but it is sometimes symbolized by "++" (however, "++" i ...

s like 22.Bf5+ are powerful because they force the king to move. Here it is decisive. 22... Ke8 :Or 22...Kc6 23.Bd7. 23. Bd7+ Kf8 :Some sources give 23...Kd8 as Black's move, with the same reply, 24.Bxe7#. 24. Bxe7#

Savielly Tartakower Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandm ...

commented, "A combination second to none in the literature of the game."

References

Bibliography * Eade, James. ''Chess for Dummies''. 1996. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. . *{{cite book , last1 = Tartakower , first1 = Savielly , author-link = Savielly Tartakower , last2 = du Mont , first2 = Julius , author-link2 = Julius du Mont , title = 500 Master Games of Chess , year = 1975 , orig-year = 1952 , publisher = Dover Publications , isbn = 0-486-23208-5 , url = https://archive.org/details/500mastergamesof00tart

External links

Adolf Anderssen vs. Jean Dufresne "The Evergreen Partie"
Chessgames.com Chess games Chess in Germany 1852 in chess July 1852 sports events Nicknamed sporting events

The game

See also

References

External links