I. Defining the Cochrane Gambit -and the other “boring” classic variants.
The Cochrane Gambit (which owes its name to John Cochrane, a Scottish amateur who used it consistently) is a knight sacrifice, played by White, in exchange for two pawns in the opening. Also, White gets a strong pawn center and some attack against the Black king, which is unable to castle.
It’s not widely used by “big names” (with the honorable...