The Dictionary of Modern Chess by Byrne J. Horton tells us:
[The Petroff Defence] ... is one of the oldest defenses to the King's Knight opening which
dates from the Gottingen Manuscripts of 1490.
It was described by the
English master Walker in 1841, carefully analyzed by M. Jaenisch in the Palamède in 1842, and popularized about the same time by the
distinguished Russian player von Petroff. Hence, this defense is
sometimes known as the Russian Defense.
--- Playing the chess online, over the board, and reading the books!
