Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit, Center Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. d4
The Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit, Center Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. d4. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 252 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5… Be7 (27% of games).
Engine evaluation: −1.42 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… c5 6. Bc4+ d5 7. exd5 Bd6 8. O-O)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbq1b1r/ppp2kpp/3p1n2/8/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQ - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 14 | |
| 1500-1999 | 131 | |
| 2000+ | 107 | |
| All | 252 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Be7 | 68 (27%) | |
| 5… Nxe4 | 50 (20%) | |
| 5… c5 | 39 (15%) | |
| 5… g6 | 20 (8%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 13 (5%) | |
| 5… c6 | 11 (4%) | |
| 5… Qe7 | 11 (4%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 10 (4%) |
Master games
99 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 58%, draw 12%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-07
- Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) – KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-07
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2882) – GM Yangyi Yu (2752) 0-1 · Saint Louis Blitz 2019 · 2019-08-14
- GM Luke J McShane (2674) – GM Aleksandar Indjic (2607) 0-1 · Indjic-McShane Blitz · 2021-02-26
- GM Klementy Sychev (2572) – GM Aleksandar Indjic (2607) 1-0 · Indjic-Sychev Blitz · 2021-04-12
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit, Center Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM berval (2525) – FM G0DZILLA (2655) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- joobree (2518) – otb04 (2512) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- joobree (2526) – BabSev (2475) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7
More Petrov's Defense lines (all)
- Petrov's Defense (2. Nf3 Nf6) C42
- Petrov's Defense (2… Nf6 3. Nxe5) C42
- Petrov's Defense (3. Nxe5 d6) C42
- Petrov's Defense (3… d6 4. Nf3) C42
- Petrov's Defense (4. Nf3 Nxe4) C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Berger Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Browne Attack C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation, Main Line C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Closed Variation C42
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Jaenisch Variation C42
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.