Evergreen Game
The Evergreen Game is a famous chess game won by Adolf Anderssen 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. Beginning with Howard Staunton in 1853, 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 remains much admired. After Anderssen's death in 1879, Wilhelm Steinitz published a tribute in The Field in which he annotated Anderssen's two most famous games, the Evergreen and the Immortal Game against Lionel Kieseritzky. 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: Anderssen Black: Dufresne Opening: Evans Gambit (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 A solid alternative, unknown to theory at the time, is 6...d6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.0-0 Bb6 with the idea of ...Na5, driving White's bishop off the dangerous diagonal. (Spielmann-Salwe, Vienna 1908) 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 capturing the pawn. 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"), 7...Nf6 and 7...d6. 8. Qb3 Immediately attacking the f7-pawn. FIDE Master Graham Burgess 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 (if the knight is recaptured with 12...dxe5, then 13.Qb5+ followed by 14.Rxe5+ wins). 10. Re1 (diagram) In his 2023 book Re-Engineering the Chess Classics, in which he analyzes 35 classic chess games with the aid of modern chess engines, Grandmaster Matthew Sadler criticizes this move, preferring 10.Rd1, with the idea of regaining the pawn after the inevitable ...d6. 10... Nge7 11. Ba3 Consistent with the previous move, but 11.Qd1 and 11.Re3, eliminating the d3-pawn, are preferred by the engines. Sadler considers that White should now be "somewhat worse" after 11...d5 12.exd6 cxd6 13.Re3 0-0 14.Bxd3