Researching John Cochrane

After a long tour of duty in India, he returned to the UK and beat everyone except Howard Staunton, whom he then helped to prepare for his victorious match against the Frenchman Saint-Amant, which established Staunton as the world's leading player. Cochrane returned to India, where he became known as the "Father of the Calcutta Bar" (association of barristers) and a leading member of the Calcutta Chess Club; the Club and Cochrane personally both made significant financial contributions to the first international chess tournament, which Staunton organised. Cochrane continued to play chess and to send games to the UK for publication, mostly in Staunton's columns. His two main opponents were Indians, and against one of them he made the first recorded use of the Cochrane Gambit against Petrov's Defence. When he returned to the UK for good, Cochrane continued to practise law part-time, mainly in important cases that arose in India, and wrote articles and books about the law. By this time he was too old for serious chess competition but played many casual games with strong players.

Cochrane is credited with discovering the Cochrane Defense, a technique to draw the difficult endgame defence of a rook against a rook and bishop. Cochrane is known for his dashing playing style – liberally sacrificing pieces and always attacking. His best-known opening innovations are generally regarded as dubious, although the Cochrane Gambit is still occasionally used as a surprise weapon in master chess. Commentators during his life and after his death expressed strong affection for him.

John Cochrane was born in 1750, the second living son of Thomas Cochrane and Jane Stuart. His father was serving as a Commissioner of the Excise for Scotland at the time, but unexpectedly inherited the title of Earl of Dundonald in 1758 on the death of his younger cousin William, the 7th Earl.

John Cochrane was sent to India at the age of 16, obtaining an appointment as a clerk or Writer due to the influence of his uncles Andrew Stuart and James Stuart.

From 1779 to 1783 Cochrane acted as a deputy paymaster in British North America. In May 1783 Cochrane was sued by General Haldimand for refusing to sue merchants himself for amounts owed the Crown for bills of exchange; Cochrane and the merchants lost in the provincial courts, a painful loss which demonstrated to the merchants the need for a better legal system in Quebec.

From 1790 to 1792 Cochrane held the contract for victualling the British fleet in India. In 1792 he signed over the contract to his brother Basil, returning to London to be his brother's agent there.

In 1793 Cochrane was appointed as Deputy Commissary for North Britain.