Step Exam
In August 2024, Caissa Hong Kong Chess Club introduced the CAISSA Step Method Exams. Ever since Caissa was founded in 2012, we have been successfully training and teaching over thousands of students using the internationally renowned Step Method. Now is the time to make the next step in this process. We have developed exams so you can test yourself.
Working your way through the books can be tough and challenging and finishing a book can be very rewarding. But have you ever wondered, after finishing a book, “How well do I master the techniques that I have learned in this book?”.
Well here is your chance!
These exams are specially designed by Caissa, under supervision of IM Matthew Tan who was trained by Step Method authors IM Cor van Wijgerden and Rob Brunia for 6 years when he was a youth player, to test how well you master the Step Method. Pass the exam and earn your own Caissa Step Certificate! There are nine levels of exams, ranging from Stepping Stones 1 all the way up to Step 5. In the list below you can find the requirements to be eligible for taking part in the individual exams*.
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Stepping Stones 1 exam (duration 45 minutes). Requirement: finished Stepping Stones 1
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Stepping Stones 2 exam (duration 45 minutes). Requirement: finished Stepping Stones 2
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Step 1a exam (duration 60 minutes). Requirement: finished Step 1, and at least halfway through Step 1 Extra
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Step 1b exam (duration 60 minutes). Requirement: finished Step 1 Extra, and at least halfway through Step 1 Plus
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Step 2a exam (duration 60 minutes). Requirement: finished Step 2, and at least halfway through Step 2 Extra
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Step 2b exam (duration 60 minutes). Requirement: finished Step 2 Extra, and at least halfway through Step 2 Plus
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Step 3 exam (duration 75 minutes). Requirement: finished Step 3, Step 3 Extra, Step 3 Plus, Step 3 Thinking Ahead**
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Step 4 exam (duration 75 minutes). Requirement: finished Step 4, Step 4 Extra, Step 4 Plus, Step 4 Mix (optional)
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Step 5 exam (duration 90 minutes). Requirement: finished Step 5, Step 5 Extra, Step 5 Plus
*) In case of doubt, the coach can give a test to see if the student is ready to participate in the exam
**) This book can be replaced by the mix books
We will be holding exams 2-3 times per year only.
The Step Method
The Step method of Rob Brunia and IM Cor van Wijgerden has been around since 1987. In the1980s, Cor van Wijgerden, who was at that time the national trainer of the Royal Dutch Chess Federation, made many stencils with exercises for the Dutch top youth and women top players. But demand for this kind of exercises for lower level players began to grow too and experienced trainer Rob Brunia joined Cor van Wijgerden and through both their profound knowledge of chess technical and didactic aspects the Step Method evolved into a solid teaching method that fits the development of a child.
Nowadays the Step Method is successfully adopted by many chess clubs and schools in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria and steadily the method is gaining popularity throughout the world.
The whole course consists of six manuals, specifically for chess teachers or trainers (the first steps are also suitable for parents), and 20 workbooks (3/4 for each step) which can be used by the students themselves. Total 27 books. 26 of them have been translated in English.
Many books have been published in other languages than Dutch, like German, French, Swedish, Turkish, Greek, Czech, Azerbaijan and Danish.
It is important to understand that the Step method is not just about solving (mostly tactics) puzzles. Puzzles are a critical tool to practice concepts and acquire skills, like pattern recognition. However, more than all that, the Step Method offers a platform, a chess didactic context, from which trainers can support chess growth of their students through playing games and analysis, just as important as doing puzzles.
Step Method celebrates its 40-years birthday in 2025. Everything you wanted to know about the Step Method. Podcast based on David Garceran Nieuwenburg's interview with IM Cor van Wijgerden, the author of the Step Method, on the occasion of having been 40 years in the market! Thank you Cor for the interview.