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The Step Method in ChessPosted on July 23, 2009 (http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-method-in-chess/) by beginchess (http://beginchess.com/author/beginchess/)

I stumbled upon a blog post

(http://chesstrainerphaedrus.blogspot.com/) that mentioned the Step Method inChess, this piqued my interest and I began to research it further. Unfortunately,

there is not a lot of information on the Internet, so I have tried to compile as much

as I could find about this chess teaching program.

The step-by-step method

(http://www.stappenmethode.nl/stepsmethod/index.html) has been developed by

Rob Brunia and Cor van Wijgerden to teach children a Step-by-Step Chess Method

to play chess. A large number of schools and chess clubs in the Netherlands and

Belgium use this method for their chess lessons. The Step Method is intended to

take students from the basics all the way to an approximate ELO rating of 1900after the student has mastered step 5, and to an approximate rating of 2100 once

they master the self-directed 6th step.

This method consists of six steps.

Step 1

Rules of the game and basic skills are covered in step 1.

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15 lessons:

1: Board and pieces

2: Moves of the pieces

3: Attacking and capturing

4: The pawn

5: Defending6: Check and + getting out of check

7: Mate

8: Mate

9: Castling

10: Profitable exchange

11: Twofold attack

12: Draw

13: Mating with the queen

14: Taking en passant

15: The notation

Step 2

Tactics and a basic introduction of strategy strategy are covered in step 2. Most

exercises require 2-4 ply calculation. The student that has mastered step 2 can

expect to attain a 1100-1200 rating.

1: Activity of pieces

2: Double attack: queen (1)

3: Double attack: queen (2)4: The pin

5: Elimination of the defence

6: The 3 golden rules

7: Mate in two

8: Double attack: knight

9: Mating with the rook

10: Double attack: RBQK

11: Discovered attack

12: Defending against mate

13: The short notation

Step 3

Step 3 builds upon the first 2 steps. Strong focus on tactics and the pawn

endgames are introduced. In this step supporting skills are introduced such as

thinking ahead. Exercises in this level require 3-6 ply calculation. The student can

expect to attain a rating of 1300-1400 after completion of this level.

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Lessons:

1: Finishing the opening

2: Discovered and double check

3: Attack on a pinned piece

4: Mate in two (access)

5: The square of the pawn6: Eliminating of the defense

7: Defending against the double attack

8: Mini plan

9: Draw

10: X-ray

11: The opening

12: Defending against the pin

13: Mobility

14: Key squares (1)

15: Pinned pieces

16: Threats

17: Key squares (2)

Step 4

The difficulty level rises in this step. More ply calculations are required to solve the

exercises in this step. Most exercises in this level require 5-8 ply calculation

Strategic concepts are introduced via the endgame. This step contains lessons

about material advantage and endgame strategy as well as weak pawn concepts.

The student can expect to attain a rating of 1500-1600 after completion of this

level.

Lessons:

1: Advantage in the opening

2: Interfering

3: Luring

4: Blocking

5: Thinking ahead

6: Placing the front and back piece

7: The passed pawn

8: Eliminating of the defense

9: The magnet

10: Weak pawns

11: Material advantage

12: Chasing and aiming


4/16

13: Kings attack

14: Seventh rank (tactics)

15: Endgame strategy

16: Clearing

17: Queen against pawn

Step 5

For step 5 students the positional aspects begin to play more and more important

role. There are lessons about pawn structure, the seventh rank, strong square and

open file contain many strategic aspects. Exercises in this level require 7-10 ply

calculation. Students can expect to attain a rating of 1700-1800 after completion

of this level.

Playing according to a plan is important in chess, that is why it is discussed in

some lessons about the endgame. They show how important the cooperation of

the pieces is and how relative the value of the pieces can be. The lesson Defense

pays attention to some aspects which are almost by all the students insufficiently

used.

Step 6

Exercises in this step require 9-13 ply calculation and the mastery of this step can

leave the student at the 2000-2100 rating level.

It is not a manual for the chess trainer, but a self study book for everyone.

The difficulty level of the material goes up again. The solutions to the exercises

are consequently one move deeper. A lot of attention is paid to strategy. Thisoccurs to be and still remains a tough subject for everybody, especially the

positions in the workbook. The endgame comes also back in some chapters.

Studying it, is a good way to gain a higher playing strength. Tactics is treated in

just one chapter.

Practical Application

So, how do you implement the steps method in your chess training? Well, you can

buy the booklets from the official site

(http://www.stappenmethode.nl/stepsmethod/index.html) or you can use the

TASC chess training program. A word of warning about the program: it is from1999, and while I have tested in Windows XP, I am not sure if it will work on Vista

or Windows 7. There is a new version (http://www.chesstutor.eu) slated to come

out in English in the very near future which you might probably want to wait for.

More info

Official Site
http://www.chesstutor.eu/http://www.stappenmethode.nl/stepsmethod/index.html


5/16

Most Popular Posts

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popular-posts/)

The Outpost

(http://beginchess.com/2009/07/25/the-

outpost/)

(http://beginchess.com/author/beginchess/)

http://www.stappenmethode.nl/stepsmethod/index.html

General Information

http://www.scholastichess.com/stapplan.htm

Good practical info on using the method

http://chesstrainerphaedrus.blogspot.com/search?q=step

Exercises

http://www.stappenmethode.nl/stepsmethod/tekst_opgaven.htm

This entry was posted in Chess (http://beginchess.com/category/chess/),

Exercises (http://beginchess.com/category/exercises/), Improvement

(http://beginchess.com/category/improvement/), Lessons

(http://beginchess.com/category/lessons/) and tagged chess

improvement (http://beginchess.com/tag/chess-improvement/), Steps Method

(http://beginchess.com/tag/steps-method/), Training

(http://beginchess.com/tag/training/).

Bookmark the permalink (http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-

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beginchess has written 145(http://beginchess.com/author/beginchess/) articles
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6/16

(http://farbr

ortheguru.bl

ogspot.com

/)

Farbror the Guru (http://farbrortheguru.blogspot.com/)

says:

(http://farbr

ortheguru.blogspot.com

/)

Farbror the Guru (http://farbrortheguru.blogspot.com/)

says:

beginchess (http://www.beginchess.com) says:

5 thoughts on The Step Method in Chess

Very interesting!

July 23, 2009 at 8:03 pm (http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-

method-in-chess/comment-page-1/#comment-133)

The English version of the CD appears to be available from here:

http://www.stappenmethode.nl/stepsmethod/index.html

(http://www.stappenmethode.nl/stepsmethod/index.html)

July 25, 2009 at 3:11 am (http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-

http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-method-in-chess/comment-page-1/#comment-134http://www.stappenmethode.nl/stepsmethod/index.htmlhttp://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-method-in-chess/comment-page-1/#comment-133http://www.beginchess.com/http://farbrortheguru.blogspot.com/http://farbrortheguru.blogspot.com/http://farbrortheguru.blogspot.com/http://farbrortheguru.blogspot.com/


7/16

(http://www.

beginchess.

com)

(http://wand

eringpawn.bl

ogspot.com)

hiddenleaf (http://wanderingpawn.blogspot.com) says:

Im not sure if it is still available, but the ChessHouse is giving away TASC for

free. You only have to pay for the shipping. This is how I got my version.

http://www.chesshouse.com/TASC_Chess_Tutorial_2_CD_free_copy_p/a216

-free.htm

(http://www.chesshouse.com/TASC_Chess_Tutorial_2_CD_free_copy_p/a21

6-free.htm)

July 25, 2009 at 8:29 am (http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-


@Farbror: That CD is an english version of a new and improved version of

TASC Chess Tutor, but it covers only Step 01. The original TCT covers Step 1

5.

If youre looking for the old complete and multilangual version, youre looking

for TASC Chess CD 2.

Its the same beginchess refers to.

October 15, 2009 at 5:10 pm (http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-

step-method-in-chess/comment-page-1/#comment-136)
http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-method-in-chess/comment-page-1/#comment-136http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-method-in-chess/comment-page-1/#comment-135http://www.chesshouse.com/TASC_Chess_Tutorial_2_CD_free_copy_p/a216-free.htmhttp://wanderingpawn.blogspot.com/http://wanderingpawn.blogspot.com/http://www.beginchess.com/


8/16

anon says:

A humble note:

Dont forget to be always reading games. Exercises are absolutely essential

but your game can become dislocated if you dont keep up a steady uptake

of complete chess games.

June 11, 2010 at 10:18 pm (http://beginchess.com/2009/07/23/the-step-


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