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Copyright 2004, Jim Loy
You may print this and show it to others. But, this article will eventually be part of a book that I am writing. So, please do not distribute it widely.
In checkers, a "cook" is a correction to published play. In chess, a "cook" is a flaw in a puzzle or problem; the term is sometimes used the same way in checkers. Some chess problemists have theorized that the term comes from a Mr. Cook, who was a problem composer. There may also have been a Mr. Cook who composed checkers problems. But, it would seem that "cook" did not come from that source.
Apparently, "cook" has long been used as a slang or informal expression, "to ruin" (I have never heard it used this way, outside of games and puzzles) or "to falsify" (as in "to cook the books"). These expressions may be related to "cook one's goose," but maybe not. And of course, a person may "cook up" a dishonest story. "Cook" is a verb, in these slang expressions, but the chess and checkers noun seems to be closely related.