Chernev's principles: the points Logical Chess makes again and again

Irving Chernev’s Logical Chess: Move by Move explains every move of 33 master games. Read it from start to finish and you notice how often the same advice comes back, such as putting the king’s knight on f3 or a rook on the open file. Chernev repeats these points on purpose, because a principle you have met in twenty games is one you will use at the board without stopping to recall it.

After you have been told again and again that in the opening White’s king’s knight works best at f3, and that rooks should control the open files, you will know that such strategy … is generally good.

Irving Chernev, in the introduction to Logical Chess: Move by Move

He is just as careful to say that these are guides. In the first game of the book, right after stating a rule, he adds a warning.

I would caution you that this and other maxims are not to be blindly followed. In chess, as in life, rules must often be swept aside.

Irving Chernev, on von Scheve–Teichmann, Berlin 1907

That is why each point below has a line on when to break it. Most of the exceptions come from his own games. Both halves matter: the rule tells you where to look first, and the position decides whether it applies. The book’s central claim sits under all of them.

The master does not search for combinations. He creates the conditions that make it possible for them to appear!

Irving Chernev, in the introduction to Logical Chess: Move by Move

The points are grouped the way your theme map groups them. Quotes are kept short; the full games, with every move explained, are in the book.

Opening and development

1. Develop quickly, and move each piece once

Place each piece as quickly as possible on the square where it is most effective. Move each piece only once in the opening.

Irving Chernev, on von Scheve–Teichmann, Berlin 1907

Every move spent moving a piece a second time is a move the opponent spends bringing a new piece into play. Chernev repeats the rule in Game 2, Liubarski–Soultanbeieff, and shows Black punishing White for breaking it.

When to break it: when the opponent has wasted even more time. In Game 15, Alekhine–Poindle, Alekhine moves a knight twice to support an early queen attack. Chernev explains that Black had moved one knight five times, and that quiet routine development would only have given Black time to reorganize.

Game 1 of the book, von Scheve–Teichmann, is in our library with every move narrated.

2. Bring out the knights before the bishops

A knight’s best square (f3, c3, f6, c6) is usually clear early, while the right square for a bishop depends on how the pawns are placed. Chernev states this precept in Game 1 and again in Game 16, Tarrasch–Kurschner, where Black ignores it and runs into trouble.

When to break it: when the bishop’s best square is already obvious. In the same first game, White’s third move is 3.Bc4, before the queen’s knight comes out. The bishop takes a strong diagonal, aims at the f7-pawn and clears the way to castle.

3. Develop with a threat when you can

Chernev states this in Game 1 as a general principle worth following whenever the position allows. A threat forces a reply, so you bring out a piece and the opponent loses the chance to make a move of their choice.

When to break it: when the threat only chases the enemy piece to a better square. A threat is worth making if the reply costs your opponent something; if the chased piece improves, you have spent your move developing theirs.

4. Move a pawn only to claim the centre or to free a piece

Early pawn moves that do neither cost time and leave holes behind. In Game 30, Capablanca–Villegas, Chernev puts the positive side plainly: a pawn move that gives a piece an outlet is always justified.

When to break it: when the pawn move answers a threat. In Game 1, Black plays 7…a6 to give his bishop a retreat square. Chernev says this does not break the rule, because a threat has to be answered before development goes on.

5. Keep the queen at home until the minor pieces are out

Premature development of the queen is dangerous, as it is subject to annoying attacks by pawns and minor pieces.

Irving Chernev, on Znosko-Borovsky–Mackenzie, Weston-super-Mare 1924

Each time a pawn or minor piece attacks the queen, the opponent develops while you retreat. A modest queen move is fine: in Game 12, Pitschak–Flohr, the queen steps forward one square, takes a diagonal and clears the back rank for the rooks.

When to break it: when the position calls for it. Chernev says so himself, in the middle of explaining the usual order of development.

This is why you may find it expedient to develop the queen at the sixth move or to castle at the sixtieth move.

Irving Chernev, on Marshall–Tarrasch, Nuremberg 1905

6. Castle early, usually on the kingside

Castle early in the game, preferably on the kingside.

Irving Chernev, on von Scheve–Teichmann, Berlin 1907

Castling takes the king away from the centre, where files open first, and brings a rook toward the middle of the board.

When to break it: when the queens are off. In Game 28, Tarrasch–Mieses, Gothenburg 1920, the queens are exchanged on e2 and Tarrasch recaptures with his king, so that his centralized knight can stay where it is. Chernev points out that the king is in no danger once the queens are off the board.

In Steinitz–von Bardeleben, Black’s king never gets to castle and is hunted across the board.

7. Don’t grab pawns before your pieces are out

The moral is: don’t go pawn-hunting in the opening!

Irving Chernev, on Marshall–Tarrasch, Nuremberg 1905

A pawn taken with an undeveloped army often costs more time than it is worth, and many opening traps are built on it. The trap shown under point 18 catches exactly that kind of grab.

When to break it: when the pawn is a central one offered as a sacrifice and you have played sound moves so far. In Game 15 Chernev quotes Emanuel Lasker’s advice to accept such a pawn, since the one you decline can become troublesome later.

8. Finish developing before you attack

An attack needs more pieces than the defence has. Chernev’s note in Game 1 is short: develop all your pieces before starting any combinations. A premature attack, he says there, should not succeed.

When to break it: when waiting would let a badly placed opponent catch up. Alekhine’s early attack in Game 15, described under the first point, is Chernev’s example.

The centre and the pawns

9. Hold a pawn in the centre, and support it

In Game 11, Flohr–Pitschak, Chernev’s rules for sound development begin with anchoring at least one pawn in the centre, because central pawns keep enemy pieces off the best squares.

When to break it: when a piece does the job better. In Game 1, Black recaptures 10…Nxe5 with a knight instead of a pawn. Chernev calls it much stronger: the knight on e5 radiates power in every direction, which a pawn cannot do.

10. Keep the central tension

Tension must be maintained if Black is to have something to say about affairs in this vital area.

Irving Chernev, on Colle–Delvaux, Gand-Terneuzen 1929

While pawns face each other in the centre, both sides keep options. Chernev’s comment follows Black’s 7…c4, which chases a white bishop and gives up the pressure on White’s centre. He calls it the sort of move a beginner makes by instinct.

When to break it: when you want an open position and your pieces will benefit. In Game 7, Spielmann–Wahle, Spielmann exchanges pawns with 4.exd5 to give his pieces room. Chernev’s advice on choosing between such moves is to play the one that suits your own style.

11. If you are cramped, make your freeing pawn break

It is of almost vital importance that Black play …c5 sooner or later.

Irving Chernev, on Pillsbury–Mason, Hastings 1895

The break challenges the centre, opens a file for your own rooks and gives your pieces room. In Pillsbury–Mason, Black waits too long, and White takes control of the c-file for good.

When to break it: when the break would lose material right now. In Game 21, Chernev–Hahlbohm, New York 1942, Chernev explains that 9.e4 would have dropped a pawn. One move later, 10.e4 is the key move of the attack. The same break can be wrong on one move and right on the next.

12. Treat an isolated pawn as a trade

In Game 20, Rubinstein–Salwe, Lodz 1908, Chernev weighs the isolated d-pawn on both sides. Its owner gets open files and outposts for his pieces; the opponent gets a square in front of the pawn that no enemy pawn can ever attack, and a fixed target.

When to break it: accept an isolated pawn when your pieces will be active, and avoid it when exchanges are coming. The fewer pieces remain, the less the open lines are worth and the weaker the pawn becomes. In that game it is Black who has the isolated pawn, and Rubinstein plays against it.

King safety and attack

13. Leave the pawns in front of your castled king alone

A pawn that moves forward can never go back, and the squares it used to guard stay weak for the rest of the game. In Game 9 Chernev notes that a single g-pawn advance leaves f6 and h6 without pawn protection.

When to break it: when the pawn move prevents something worse. In the same game, White plays 11.h3 to stop …Bg4, which would pin the knight that defends his centre.

Is White violating principle in moving one of the pawns near his king? Maybe, but one must know when to slight conventions as well as observe them.

Irving Chernev, on Znosko-Borovsky–Mackenzie, Weston-super-Mare 1924

14. Open lines help the side that is better developed

Chernev states this as a rule in Game 1, after White exchanges in the centre with 10.dxe5. Opening the position helped Black, who had more pieces ready to use the new lines.

When to break it: open the position yourself only when your pieces are the ones waiting for those lines. If you are behind in development, keep it closed until you catch up.

15. Meet an attack on the wing with action in the centre

In Game 3, Colle–Delvaux, Chernev calls counterplay in the centre the best means of opposing a kingside attack. An attacker who has sent pieces toward your king has fewer left to hold the middle of the board.

When to break it: when the centre is locked. With no pawn break available, the defence has to meet the attack where it is.

Rooks, files and tactics

16. Put rooks on open files, or toward the centre when there are none

Rooks must seize open files! What if there are none? Then bring your rooks toward the centre! They will then be at the head of files most likely to be opened.

Irving Chernev, on Chernev–Hahlbohm, New York 1942

A rook needs an open line to do anything, and an open file gives it a road into the enemy camp. In Game 7, Spielmann–Wahle, Chernev puts it in a single line: rooks belong on open files or on files likely to be opened.

When to break it: when the file is only a road to somewhere else. In Game 14, Tarrasch–Mieses, Berlin 1916, White’s rook uses the half-open e-file to reach e3 and then swings across to the kingside, where the attack is.

Steinitz–von Bardeleben shows it with 14.Re1, a rook on the open e-file in front of Black’s uncastled king.

17. Double your rooks, then aim for the seventh rank

In Pillsbury–Mason, Chernev says that doubling rooks on an open file more than doubles their strength, and that reaching the seventh rank is the natural result of play on an open file.

When to break it: when the other side has something faster. In the same game, Black’s rook gets to the seventh rank but White’s passed pawns are already running toward promotion.

18. A pinned piece can neither move nor defend, so attack it again

In Game 7 Chernev reminds the reader that a pinned piece is also powerless to capture. Adding attackers to a pinned piece is one of the most common ways to win material.

When to break it: when the piece is pinned to the queen and the king is not behind it. Then it can still move, and moving may win something back. Chernev shows this trap twice in the book, in Noteboom–Doesburgh and in Marshall–Tarrasch.

19. Count the tempi

Time matters most in the opening, while both sides are still bringing pieces out. In Game 28, Tarrasch–Mieses, Tarrasch considered the game won after twelve moves, and Chernev counts out why: White is five tempi ahead. Tarrasch went on to win.

When to break it: in a closed position, where nothing can be attacked quickly, a lost tempo matters less than a better pawn structure.

Strategy and habits

20. Build the position, and the combinations will come

This is the book’s central claim, quoted at the top of this page. In Game 24, Capablanca–Mattison, Chernev describes Capablanca developing piece after piece until combinations appear on their own. Our lesson Principles first, combinations follow shows two games where this happens.

When to break it: when the combination is already on the board. If your opponent’s last move allows one, check it and play it, even if your plan said something else.

21. Plan a few moves ahead and collect small advantages

Don’t believe all those stories you hear of chess masters analysing intricate combinations with dozens of variations for thirty moves ahead. They don’t do this because they don’t have to!

Irving Chernev, on Znosko-Borovsky–Mackenzie, Weston-super-Mare 1924

Chernev’s alternative in the same note is to look a few moves ahead and keep at least an equal game at every stage. Small advantages add up until the winning moment arrives.

When to break it: in forcing positions. When the moves are checks, captures and threats, the line has to be calculated to the end, because one missed reply loses.

Endgame

22. When you are ahead, trade pieces and choose the simplest win

Each trade leaves the defender fewer pieces to create trouble with. In Game 27, Chekhover–Rudakovsky, Moscow 1945, Chernev’s moral is to play the move that forces the win in the simplest way and leave the brilliancies to Alekhine and Keres.

When to break it: when a trade leads to an ending that is a known draw, such as bishops of opposite colours with few pawns left. Keep the pawns, too: the extra pawn is usually what wins the ending.

23. Once the queens are off, bring your king to the centre

Without the queens there is little left to attack the king, and it becomes a strong piece. In Tarrasch–Mieses, Gothenburg 1920, Tarrasch brings his king toward the centre the moment the queens come off.

When to break it: when the queens are still on. In Game 31, Havasi–Capablanca, Budapest 1929, Chernev notes that bringing Black’s king to the centre might be suicidal, because White’s queen would chase it with checks.

24. Passed pawns must be pushed

Passed pawns must be pushed! Everything else … must be relegated to the background as incidental to the main theme of queening the advanced pawn.

Irving Chernev, on Havasi–Capablanca, Budapest 1929

A passed pawn ties down an enemy piece, and that tie grows tighter with every square the pawn advances.

When to break it: when the pawn would run ahead of its support and be blockaded or lost. Push it as far as your pieces can follow it.

How to use the list

Twenty-four points is too many to think about during a game. Pick one before you play, such as castling early or putting a rook on the open file, and look for it afterwards. When you broke it, decide whether you had one of the reasons above or simply forgot.

Your own games are where this counts. As your trainer reads them with you, the theme map records several of these points from the moves you actually played, judged by the engine: developing your pieces, castling in time, the centre, keeping the queen at home, the pawns in front of your king, rooks on open files, loose pieces, the blunder check, and winning a won game. Puzzles train the patterns, and your games show which principles you keep under a clock.

For the method behind the book, read the Chernev method. The opening points get more space in chess opening principles, the middlegame ones in middlegame strategy, and the endgame ones in endgame principles. To see these ideas move by move, open a narrated game in the library, and to read Chernev’s own explanations of all 33 games, get Logical Chess: Move by Move.