John Cochrane (1798-1878)

In 1824 the two year old Edinburgh Chess Club of Scotland challenged the venerable London Chess Club of England to a five game match. The London team was captained by none other that that renowned player, writer and teacher, William Lewis. Second in command was John Cochrane, who, just a few years earlier, 1821 to be exact, while still a law student, had gone to Paris where he lost a triangular match to both Deschapelles (at pawn and 2 odds) and to his protégé, Bourdonnais (even odds), but who then turned around and beat Deschapelles at even odds! No one even remembers the last time someone beat Deschapelles even. (the catch was that Deschapelles had to win two thirds of the games, which he failed to do)

Here's an example of Cochrane playing Deschapelles at pawn and 2 and even:

The match was to last until one team won three games, draws not counting. It eventually lasted five games over a four year perod, the moves carried by stagecoach. (The letters containing the moves were carried 400 miles by mail coach. It took 3 days for the stagecoach to travel the 400 miles that separted the two clubs). The winner was to receive 25 guineas and a silver cup.

Edinburgh took white in the first game and played the old standby, the Bishops Opening, which ended in a draw.

Then the oddest thing happened. Cochrane (who, although he was Scottish, belonged to the London Club) convinced his team to play a little known opening, perhaps as a surprise since it was only briefly mentioned by Ercole Del Rio in 1750 and, of course, by his Modenese protégé, Giambattista Lolli in 1763: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4

This game was looking favorable for white, but Cochrane took a position in India and had to leave mid-game. After he departed white's game fell apart and black eventually won. The Scots beat the Scotch Gambit the first time it was recorded OTB.

Although the Scottish team won against the Scotch Gambit, it seems their own analysis was better than London's because they opted to play the white side in the very next game which led to a 99 move draw.

Game four - another Bishop's Opening and London finally scores!

Game 5 - Edinburgh tries the Scotch Gambit again, and wins! Winning the match, 25 guineas and the silver cup.
 

John Cochrane was born into a well-to-do Scottish family on February 4, 1798.

He had the unique distinction of having been a second lieutenant the British ship, the HMS Bellerophon, which transported Napoleon to Helena. his island of exile, in 1815 (immediately after transporting Napoleon, the ship was transformed into a prison hulk, which was a housing for prisoners who were put to work on the docks. The Bellerophon housed as many as 450 prisoners at a time).

He is recorded to have played against the Turk in 1820 at pawn and the move odds, losing the majority (+1-3=1).
Jacques Mouret operated the Turk at the time

Here is the solitary win:

Still, he must have shown an early talent for chess because in 1821, at age 23, before passing the bar, he was playing chess in the company of Deschapelles and Bourdonnais. As mentioned above, he lost to Bourdonnais (0-7, playing even) and to Deschapelles (at pawn and 2 odds) 6-1 , but then beat Deschapelles in a match when the two played even but with the odds that Deschapelles had to win two-thirds of the games. After the match, Cochrane and Bourdonnais supposedly played about 50 unrecorded games without odds in which he came out equal.

Cochrane playing Bourdonnais:

Cochrane passed the bar in 1822, the same year he published A Treatise on the Game of Chess.

Then in 1824, the famous correspondence match with Edinburgh began and Cochrane left for India where he ended up spending a large portion of his life.

He returned to England, on leave, for a few years, seemingly from 1841 to 1843. He became good friends with Howard Staunton who was an up-and-coming player. Staunton had just started a chess periodical called, the British Miscellany, which would later become the enduring, Chess Player's Chronicle. Staunton and Cochrane played hundreds of games together.

It might be safe to say that at that time Cochrane was stronger than Staunton and possible everyone else. Cochrane played two matches with Staunton in 1843, one with Staunton giving odds of pawn and move (+3-3) and one even, which Cochrane won (+3-1=2).

In 1843 Cochrane beat St. Amant in a series of unofficial games (+6-4=1). Later that year Staunton would lose a match to St. Amant, though he would beat him a short time after.

Cochrane returned to India probably not long after playing St. Amant.

In 1851 Staunton planned and organized the first international tournament to take place during the Great Exhibition of Art and Industry in London. John Cochrane couldn't attend but supported his friend's endeavor by donating £20 of his own money (the largest contribution by an individual) while the Calcutta Chess Club donated £100. (one source claims that £20 in the 19th century might be worth about $2500 today). It's probably true that without these substantial donations there wouldn't have been adequate funding.

While in India, Cochrane didn't forsake chess. He belonged to (possibly founded) the Calcutta Chess Club and regularly sent the annotated scores from games he played there. One particularly strong opponent was Moheschunder Bannerjee (Mahesh Chandra Banerji of Bengal).

Here's a game where Cochrane played Bannerjee :

Cecil DeVere, in his chess column in The Field, claimed that Moheschunder Bannerjee was likely stronger than any European chess player, yet Cochrane beat him (+13-3=3) in 1852.

Cochrane was an inventive, bold player who is best remembered to day for his variation in the Petroff Defense, the Cochrane Gambit [C42] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7 Kxf7
White sacrifices a Knight for two pawns and an attack.

Here's the first recorded instance of the Cochrane Gambit:

Cochrane retired from practicing law in 1869 and returned to England. Not much is known about this later life other than he was possibly in attendance at the 1876 match between Steinitz and Blackburne.

John Cochrane died on March 3, 1878.

a later page containing several Obituaries