Evergreen Game

The Evergreen Game is the game Adolf Anderssen played against Jean Dufresne and that was first known to have been published in 1852. It became famous for an attack in which White's pieces cooperate against the black king and for a final sequence of sacrifices. A sacrifice deliberately allows material, such as a valuable piece, to be lost in exchange for greater compensation, such as opening lines or forcing checkmate, an attack on the king with no legal reply.

The name was not necessarily attached to the game when it was played. Tradition connects it with a later description attributed to Wilhelm Steinitz, presenting the combination as permanently fresh or enduring. The game ended in checkmate, but its value is not limited to the last move: it shows how activating pieces beyond their starting squares, using clear files or diagonals, and coordinating attacks can outweigh a simple count of pieces.

Many books give Berlin as the venue, although the earliest known sources did not name a place, so the location should not be treated as fully established. The game must also be distinguished from the Immortal Game, another Anderssen victory, this time over Lionel Kieseritzky. Like the Gold Coin Game, it combines memorable chess with a surrounding story that should be separated from verified facts.