Do you want to beat the Petrov’s Defense (also known as the Russian Game) as White? The chess opening arises after the moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6. Some would even call this a copycat opening. In this lesson, I’m going to show you an unknown sideline that you can easily use and pull off victories against your opponents, known as the Cochrane Gambit.

It happens after black tries to go for the main line 3.Ne5 d6. But here instead of retreating with the knight back to 4.Nf3, you can go for this interesting sacrifice 4.Nxf7.

Since the knight forks the queen and the rook, the king will have to take it or lose one of the major pieces. Although it’s not a new move, many players think that it’s a wrong move to play. Hence, it’s also not studied much nowadays by most players.

However, it’s not that simple for Black after they accept the gambit. White has lost the right to castle and the king is somewhat exposed. And if you consider that a knight is roughly equal to 3 pawns and you just traded it for 2 pawns, then that technically makes you only down one pawn.

Cochrane Gambit Video Lesson

Watch and learn how to crush the Petrov’s Defense with this unusual sideline!

You can find the PGN of this opening below:

Study this and you will be crushing the Petrov’s Defense.

Explore the Chess Openings Lesson Guide to find lessons organized by opening strategies. Improve your play from the first moves with a clear, topic-based approach.

If you want to learn all the fundamental things about chess, including openings, then you need to check out Level Up Your Chess. This course has six sections covering, not just the opening, middlegame and endgame. It also covers how to avoid blunders and how to study and train effectively.

And my big promise in this course is that studying just one section is enough to boost your chess rating. So, go ahead and check it out.