Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7
The Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C42, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7. It is a line of the Petrov's Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,189 times by this move order. White won 50%, 3% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4… Kxf7 (97% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.54 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 4… Kxf7 5. Nc3 Be6 6. d4 Kg8 7. Bd3)
- ECO
- C42
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2Npp/3p1n2/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 417 | |
| 1500-1999 | 558 | |
| 2000+ | 214 | |
| All | 1,189 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Kxf7 | 1,154 (97%) | |
| 4… Nxe4 | 14 (1%) | |
| 4… Qe7 | 7 (1%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 3 (0%) | |
| 4… Ke7 | 2 (0%) | |
| 4… Ng8 | 1 (0%) | |
| 4… Nbd7 | 1 (0%) | |
| 4… Qd7 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
44 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 12%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2710) – GM Li Chao2 (2751) 0-1 · IMSA Rapid 2016 · 2016-02-27
- GM Alexander Morozevich (2656) – FM Alexander Sergeyev (2397) 1-0 · TCh-RUS Blitz 2018 · 2018-10-10
- GM Alexander Morozevich (2659) – IM Denis Eraschenkov (2382) 1-0 · ch-RUS Blitz 2019 · 2019-10-17
- IM Mackenzie Molner (2489) – GM Benjamin Finegold (2499) 1/2-1/2 · CCSCSL GM Inv · 2012-11-28
- GM Aleksei Pridorozhni (2569) – FM Oleg Rychkov (2328) 0-1 · Pacific Meridian 2015 · 2015-07-20
Search all games of the Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit 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 (3. Nxe5 d6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6
Continuations
- Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit, Bishop Check Line C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. Bc4+
- Petrov's Defense: Cochrane Gambit, Center Variation C42 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. d4
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… 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
- Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Krause 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.