Step Method in Chess

Step Method in Chess Per http://www.beginchess.com/ on 7/23/2009

I stumbled upon a blog post that mentioned the Step Method in Chess, 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 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 1900 after the student has mastered step 5, and to an approximate rating of 2100 once they master the self- directed 6th step.

Practical Application So, how do you implement the steps method in your chess training? Well, you can buy the booklets from the official site or you can use the TASC chess training program. A word of warning about the program: it is from 1999, 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 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.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 method consists of the following six steps. Step 1 Rules of the game and basic skills are covered in step 1. 15 lessons: 1: Board and pieces 2: Moves of the pieces 3: Attacking and capturing 4: The pawn 5: Defending 6: 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. 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 pawn 6: 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 13: King’s 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. This occurs 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.