The Step by Step learning system is a method of learning to play chess which has been officially acknowledged by the Dutch Chess Federation. It has been successfully adopted by many chess clubs and schools in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Slowly but steadily the method is gaining popularity throughout the world. The whole course consists of five manuals, specifically for chess teachers or trainers (the first steps are also suitable for parents), and fifteen workbooks (3 for each step) which can be used by the students themselves. This book appeared in 1999 in Dutch. For the English translation the 3rd
revised and expanded edition from 2010 has been used. It is advisable to go through this manual in combination with the workbook for Step 6. The manual for Step 6 differs in some respects from the previous ones.
Firstly, the target group has changed. This book is not a manual for trainers, but a self-study manual for anyone interested, in other words for the independent learner.