Chekhov’s gun

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Chekhov’s gun
Russian: Чеховское ружьё (n.)
A narrative principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.

“If there is a rifle hanging on the wall in the first act, it must go off in the third.”

A preamble is a kind of Chekhov’s gun for the commercial contracts world.

See also

• Preamble in the ISDA Master Agreement