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Cochrane 
 
John Cochrane
Number of games in database: 762
Years covered: 1820 to 1874
Overall record: +449 -248 =61 (63.3%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      4 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (71) 
    B21 B20 B32 B30 B27
 Petrov (58) 
    C42
 King's Indian (39) 
    E76 E77 E61 E90 E71
 Pirc (38) 
    B07 B09
 King's Pawn Game (24) 
    C44 C20 C40
 Philidor's Defense (22) 
    C41
With the Black pieces:
 Giuoco Piano (117) 
    C50 C53 C54
 Queen's Pawn Game (48) 
    D00 D02 A40 A45 D05
 Petrov (25) 
    C42 C43
 King's Indian Attack (24) 
    A07
 Philidor's Defense (23) 
    C41
 King's Pawn Game (22) 
    C20 C44 C40
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Cochrane vs Mohishunder, 1848 1-0
   Popert vs Cochrane, 1841 0-1
   Cochrane vs Staunton, 1842 1-0
   Cochrane vs NN, 1832 1-0
   Cochrane vs Mohishunder, 1854 1-0
   Cochrane vs Staunton, 1842 1-0
   Cochrane vs The Turk, 1820 1-0
   Cochrane vs A Deschapelles, 1821 1-0
   Cochrane vs Mohishunder, 1855 1-0
   Mohishunder vs Cochrane, 1850 0-1

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   rook sacs by obrit
   Black - Giuco Piano - Best line by gaborn
   Blunderchecked games I by nimh

Search Sacrifice Explorer for John Cochrane
Search Google for John Cochrane


JOHN COCHRANE
(born Feb-04-1798, died Jan-02-1878) United Kingdom

[what is this?]
Scottish barrister John Cochrane became a leading London player in the early 19th century. In 1821 he went to France and played an odds match (a pawn and two moves) against Alexandre Louis Honore Lebreton Deschapelles and a level terms match against Louis Charles Mahe De La Bourdonnais and lost both. He went to India in 1824 and remained there until his retirement in 1869, but he took leave in 1841-43 and returned to London. During this period he played hundreds of casual games against Howard Staunton (losing the majority) and a match (which he won (+6, =1, -4)) against Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint Amant.

His name is associated with a variation of the Petroff Defense, the Cochrane Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7!?


 page 1 of 31; games 1-25 of 762  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Cochrane vs NN 1-030 1820 CasualC41 Philidor Defense
2. Cochrane vs The Turk 1-030 1820 London000 Chess variants
3. Cochrane vs A Deschapelles 0-124 1821 Odds game000 Chess variants
4. Cochrane vs A Deschapelles 0-127 1821 casual odds game000 Chess variants
5. Cochrane vs A Deschapelles 1-031 1821 casualC44 King's Pawn Game
6. La Bourdonnais vs Cochrane 0-130 1821 ParisC37 King's Gambit Accepted
7. Cochrane vs NN 1-025 1822 CasualC53 Giuoco Piano
8. Cochrane vs NN 1-013 1822 CasualC53 Giuoco Piano
9. Cochrane vs NN 1-019 1822 CasualC23 Bishop's Opening
10. NN vs Cochrane  0-138 1822 CasualC53 Giuoco Piano
11. Cochrane vs NN 1-030 1822 CasualC53 Giuoco Piano
12. Cochrane vs NN  1-034 1825 UnknownC33 King's Gambit Accepted
13. Cochrane vs NN 1-014 1832 Odds game000 Chess variants
14. Popert vs Cochrane 0-119 1841 LondonC53 Giuoco Piano
15. Staunton vs Cochrane 0-129 1841 London m1C46 Three Knights
16. Cochrane vs Staunton 0-124 1841 LondonC45 Scotch Game
17. Cochrane vs Staunton 0-120 1841 London m1C23 Bishop's Opening
18. Staunton vs Cochrane 1-034 1841 London m1C44 King's Pawn Game
19. Cochrane vs Staunton 0-157 1841 London m1C50 Giuoco Piano
20. Cochrane vs G Walker 1-014 1841 LondonC44 King's Pawn Game
21. Cochrane vs Staunton 0-126 1841 London m1C02 French, Advance
22. Staunton vs Cochrane 1-043 1841 London m1C40 King's Knight Opening
23. Cochrane vs Staunton 0-136 1841 London m1C44 King's Pawn Game
24. Cochrane vs Staunton 0-121 1841 London m1C44 King's Pawn Game
25. Staunton vs Cochrane 1-039 1841 London m1C23 Bishop's Opening
 page 1 of 31; games 1-25 of 762  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Cochrane wins | Cochrane loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 5 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Feb-04-09  drkodos: Whitehat; No, but he may be the great, great, great (etc) grandfather of Zefram Cochrane, inventor of the Warp coil.
Feb-04-09  laskereshevsky: or maybe is the great, great, great, great,great (etc, etc, etc..) father of the first human who'd travel at warp speed...
Feb-04-09  WhiteRook48: wow! Awesome and I would like to thank CG for posting him as player of the day
Feb-28-09  Karpova: The second part of Jeremy P. Spinrad's article on John Cochrane: http://www.chesscafe.com/text/spinr...

Excerpts:

<However, another fact was that while the others complained of Staunton’s treatment (such as having only their losses to Staunton published in his widely read "Chess Player’s Chronicle"), Cochrane kept quiet about it, though it disturbed him as well. Thus, according to a letter from the "Hartford Times" that was reprinted in the "American Chess Journal", April 1878, Cochrane is said to have felt (and stated privately) that he was portrayed as a pawn-and-move bumpkin in "The Chess Player’s Companion", while he in fact beat Staunton in their last series of even games. However, instead of disputing this and perhaps bolstering his chess reputation, he swallowed it and came to be viewed as a player a level below the top; strong, a piece of chess history, but perhaps not up to the younger generation of chess talent.>

<How strong was Cochrane? We have a mass of seeming contradictions. In 1821, is it more important that the very young Cochrane was drubbed by Labourdonnais and Deschapelles in the triangular match, or that he reportedly did well against them in games after this match? In 1841-43, do we view the games between Staunton and Cochrane as showing that Staunton was much better (as the "Oxford Companion" claims), or do we take Cochrane’s unhappiness over this portrayal and his wins against Saint-Amant as evidence that he was a world-class talent at this time? Do we give credence to DeVere’s praise of Bannerjee, and thus enhance Cochrane’s status by his having beaten Bannerjee?

My opinions on this are quite arbitrary, but I see no way to avoid arbitrariness. Taking into account Cochrane’s youth and his loss to Mouret, I feel that he was not quite ready for Labourdonnais and Deschapelles in 1821, and that the triangular match does show the Frenchmen were better at this time, though perhaps not by as much as the scores indicate. However, given the number of disputes Staunton had over match results and presentation, I am reminded of children who are always involved in disputes about cheating at school chess clubs; even though you can’t say out loud that they are cheaters, you don’t believe them any more. I think Cochrane was quite comparable to Staunton in 1843, and he beat Saint-Amant by a score quite comparable to Staunton’s. Given the praise heaped on Cochrane’s brilliance by players of the time, I believe that in the early 1840s he was a candidate for best player of the time; he certainly would have been a worthy match opponent for anyone. Thus, he fits my view of underappreciated masters. I could not pin down exactly when Cochrane’s peak would be, but at some point, perhaps around 1841, he may have been as good as anyone in the world.>

Mar-21-09  Dredge Rivers: The only man ever to beat the Turk, and I'd never even heard of him! Why is that?
Mar-21-09  DCP23: <Dredge Rivers: The only man ever to beat the Turk, and I'd never even heard of him! Why is that?>

Because you don't know openings? Ever heard of Cochrane Gambit in the Petroff?

Mar-21-09  Dredge Rivers: <DCP23>

No, I didn't. Hey, I ain't no Billy Fischer! :)

Apr-20-09  Raisin Death Ray: <Dredge Rivers> Yeah, and I'll bet you're no Jerry Kasparov either!
Aug-04-09  vizboy: I'm sure I've read somewhere that during one of Fischer's absences from competitive chess (64-65?) he studied a lot of Cochrane's games. I know he looked up a lot of Staunton's stuff, Bilguer's Manual and other old boys. Anyone else pick that one up or am I talking through my hat?
Aug-04-09  Dredge Rivers: If the glove does not fit, you must acquit!
Aug-04-09  Granny O Doul: If the glove "don't" fit. To get the meter, be a cheater.
Aug-04-09  Dredge Rivers: <Granny O Doul> I distinctly remember him saying "does not", but perhaps I am mistaken. I suspect not, because "don't" in this context sounds too crude, and Johnny Cochrane always strove to sound polished.
Feb-04-10  muwatalli: happy birthday to the man who invented the awesome cochrane gambit.
Aug-04-10  Don Cossacks: Cochrane Defense:

<The Cochrane Defense is a drawing method discovered by John Cochrane. The Cochrane Defense is the most popular among grandmasters for this endgame (Nunn 2002:174ff). The basic idea is to pin the bishop to its king when there are at least two ranks or files between it and the defending king.

Accurate play is required for the defense. The defense is most effective near the center of the board, and does not work on the edge (Nunn 2002:174ff). The Cochrane Defense works when:

* the defending rook pins the bishop to the king on one of the four central files (c through f) or ranks (3 through 6), and * there are two or more ranks or files (respectively) between the kings (de la Villa 2008:213-16).>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochra...

Feb-04-11  Penguincw: R.I.P. <John Cochrane>.
Mar-16-11  Penguincw: < His name is associated with a variation of the Petroff Defense, the Cochrane Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7!? >

Hmm.That knight that began on g1 is exchanging itself for two pawns.How interesting.

Sep-28-11  Ziggurat: <"The great chess men have generally been long lived and have preserved their faculties to the last. I remember well receiving a note from John Cochrane, a famous player, in London just before the tournament in Paris in 1878. He was then ninety years of age and said that he would like to explain to me some new ideas. He did so, and I was surprised to see a man of his advanced years write out from memory variations sixteen moves deep. The next day I read in the papers a notice of his death. I cannot imagine a happier way to die. It is so with almost all who devote their time to the game of chess. They live long and they retain mental vigor to the end of their days.">

Steinitz, quoted in the current Urcan column at ChessCafe. (http://www.chesscafe.com/urcan/urca...)

Sep-28-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <I remember well receiving a note from John Cochrane, a famous player, in London just before the tournament in Paris in 1878. He was then ninety years of age and said that he would like to explain to me some new ideas.>

Subtraction was not Steinitz's forte.

Oct-02-11  Karpova: <keypusher: Subtraction was not Steinitz's forte.>

I think that Steinitz can be forgiven considering that this was an interview and he probably didn't know every birthyear of every chessplayer up to 1894. Cochrane was still 80 years old and Steinitz' enthusiasm justified.

There are a lot of factually wrong or at least strange claims from famous chessplayers (not even counting the more recent ones). Like Marshall calling Johannes Zukertort a former Worldchampion and the story of the "Five First Grandmasters" at St. Petersburg 1914.

So let's just correct that mistake and appreciate the fact that a strong and important master like John Cochrane was still in such a good shape shortly before he died at the age of 80 (in the 19th century!).

Oct-03-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <Karpova> You are absolutely right, of course.

It is nice to see you posting regularly here again.

Oct-06-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  tamar: Was Steinitz making the same error confusing John Cochrane b 1878 with James Cochrane b. 1870?

<ARubinstein> <SBC> and <Calli> debate this on pages 3 and 4 of this page.

Feb-04-12  Penguincw: R.I.P. John Cochrane.
May-09-13  Graham1973: I think I've found a Cochrane-Mohishunder game that does not appear to be in the database.

It was printed in the St Louis Globe-Democrat of 13/07/1879. Supposedly it was from a private collection and had originally been published in the Glasgow Herald.

The article (Link below) contains annotations allegedly by Cochrane himself, but does not give any dating or location details.

http://www.chessarch.com/excavation...

My transcription of the moves is:

1.P-K4 P-K4
2.KKt-B3 QKt-B3
3.B-QB4 B-QB4
4.P-QKt4 BxP
5.Castles KKt-B3
6.B-Qkt2 Castles
7.KtxP KtxKt
8.BxKt KtxP
9.Q-KKt4 Kt-KKt4
10.BxKBP RxB
11.QxB P-Q3
12.B-QKt2 Kt-R6
13.PxKt Q-KKt4
14.K-Rsq BxP
15.QxKtP BxR
16.QxR R-KBsq
17.Q-K4 RxB
18.Q-K8 R-Bsq
19.Q-K6 K-Rsq
20.Q-K4 P-Q4

Assitance in converting to algebraic notation would be greatly appreciated.

May-09-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Calli: <Graham1873> See Cochrane vs Mohishunder, 1852
May-09-13  Graham1973: <Calli> Thanks for identifying the game. I'm going to incorporate the Cochrane annotations into the existing file and upload as a correction.
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