My first chess.com blog post should help and it has MANY helpful links for beginners at the bottom of the page:
https://www.chess.com/blog/KeSetoKaiba/opening-principles-again
A Call for a Real Beginner Roadmap on Chess.com
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Aug 17, 2025
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#25
Thank you very much for your comment towbat.
You said: "There is no one, single, unified and agreed-upon model for improvement. If only it were that simple..." but my question here is not about finding a single method, but about creating a clear roadmap for beginners.
If coaches have structured methods for teaching, why aren't those shared or reflected on this site? Of course, there will be differences between coaches, but surely there must be some general agreement among chess academies about how to guide beginners. That kind of basic orientation is simply not present on the site. Beginners are left lost and at the mercy of the forums.
AlsoI never said chess.com was bad. On the contrary I believe it's the best platform, which is exactly why I’m taking the time to offer constructive feedback bc it can be better. When people say it's “great” that’s ambiguous. As I mentioned earlier it’s a pleasure to use for intermediate and advanced players. But for beginners, I’m sorry … it’s easy to get lost, and there’s no clear direction. That’s the core of my criticism.
As for the topic of coaches, I think we can agree on 2 things. First, as you said, they are not affordable for most people. And second, you wrote: "Clubs and coaches are a good starting point" So my question is: Is chess.com NOT MEANT to be an ideal starting point for beginners? What is missing from the platform that coaches or clubs do provide?
You suggested email lessons and structured guidance. Again why can’t chess.com implement something like that? Even a basic guided roadmap would make a massive difference.
That said I truly appreciate the list of materials and recommendations you gave I’ve taken good note of them. Thank you again for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and detailed reply
Aug 17, 2025
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#26
Aug 17, 2025
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#27
Thank you again for your comment ionalionova. I completely agree with your point about how didactic structure is often missing when it comes to grandmasters and honestly, that’s exactly what’s happening with chess.com. The platform seems heavily focused on serving higherlevel players, and it’s clear that very little attention is being paid to beginners.
I’ve watched some of Nakamura’s videos bt to be honest,they feel like a waste of time for someone just starting out. You simply can’t follow what’s going on unless you already have a solid teaching. There’s no explanation of the logic behind the moves no guidance about how to think as a beginner. The gap is real.
Your questions about whether it’s better to learn from a solid coach or a world-class player, or from a good teacher versus a top mathematician are excellent! and really invite deep reflection. I think the answer is you don’t need a top-level player to become better; what you need is a good teacher. Someone who knows how to pass on knowledge with clarity and empathy. That’s true in any field. Chess.com is in touch with countless titled players and professionals. It’s hard to believe they couldn’t create a structured roadmap for beginners even a basic one. Going back to your analogy, I would say that being a beginner on chess.com feels a bit like entering a classroom full of advanced students, where the teacher only speaks to them, and barely even notices that new learners are in the room. The teacher is going to tell the new students: “go to the library” “ ask your friends (go to forums)” and has no interest in helping you to improve.
That’s the feeling I believe many beginners are having. And that’s why conversations like this matter bc we’re not criticising out of dislike bt out of the hope that things could genuinely improve
Aug 17, 2025
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#28
Kesetoikaba your blog is fantastic! Once again, this is exactly why there should be a proper beginner section so that new players can easily access this kind of guidance, instead of having to dig through forums and blogs to find the kind of advice you’re offering. It shouldn’t be so hard for beginners to find structured accessible content like this
Aug 17, 2025
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#29
Sargon_three, which lessons are you referring to? The six short videos for beginners? Or the countless other lessons clearly aimed at intermediate and advanced players?
Aug 17, 2025
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#30
Aug 17, 2025
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#31
Justbefair fantastic! Thank you !! I’m going to spend the day and teh next days surely going through this. That said, my main criticism still stands: chess.com is simply not designed with beginners in mind. I was just looking at the chess.com TV feature do you really think a beginner would be interested in that kind of programming?
Aug 17, 2025
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#34
Journeyman2025 wrote:
ionalionova wrote:
Journeyman2025 hat geschrieben:
HeckinSprout wrote:
It's an interesting idea to overhaul the website with a beginners section. I think NM
mikewier made a good point with how different people learn differently. So there would obviously be some challenges and a one size fits all approach wouldn't necessarily work.
I would add though about coaches - there are many, many people on this website that offer coaching / advice for free. It just takes a little digging to find us. A lot of us aren't titled players, but as long as someone is at least 500 rating points above you, I think you can learn a lot from them.
This is why you're supposed to have two-way conversations with anyone you're considering hiring as a coach. If he/she doesn't ask you the hard questions about how you learn or the kind of environment that would make you feel comfortable, you should run for the exit. I would bet a healthy amount that nobody who is offering their services for free is anywhere near professional enough to do that.
So I really don't care if you consider my argument ignorant. That's my personal principles, and I'm sticking by them. You don't like it, either block me or flush your head down the toilet.
Oh of course not. I don't think you're ignorant. There's the saying, "you get what you pay for". But flipping that around, if someone comes to me and I offer to coach them, I'm giving my time for free. If the person I'm teaching doesn't feel I'm helping enough, they haven't paid me anything. They can just find someone else. But if their rating goes up and I am helping them, well, I'd say they got a pretty good deal.
I don't think it takes a "professional titled player" to review a novice players games and give them a personalized study plan. For the people I help, I review their games each week, I create an unlisted video on youtube as a weekly study plan. I'm not saying all this to flex - I'm trying to make the point that there are free coaches out there that will do this kind of thing.
TLDR; if you find the right person, it's a good deal, but your concerns are valid. There's a difference between knowing a thing and teaching a thing, and your mileage may very.
Chess.com has a fantastic beginner-level program (and no, I’m not talking about that NM guy’s program or whatever that is). Since I’ve been working on it for about a year as a translator of their lessons, I can confidently say the material this website provides is truly high-class.
When it comes to a roadmap… someone here mentioned it before me, but there’s never a final resolution. Every coach has a structure of some kind, and most of them work well enough (not everything has to be ideal for everyone). But the idea that there’s something which always works for sure… that’s just not how this thing works. Chess coaching or training (or any learning, really) isn’t an exact science. I can only speak from my perspective, what has worked with my students so far (20+ years of coaching), or what my experience as a school teacher (non-chess) tells me is effective for some or even most students, but there’s no ultimate solution.
By the way, about a month ago I made a YouTube video on this exact topic. It’s nothing revolutionary. I provided about the same kind of a roadmap most beginners have already seen/heard of, yet people still keep hoping for some magical shortcut to chess mastery (which simply doesn’t exist).
If I may be a bit bolder: chess coaching/training is so individual that even if you worked with a coach who trained three world champions, that still doesn’t mean he’d be a great coach for you, or that his program would suit every other chess student. Although, I'd almost agree that there should be something quite generic when it comes to a beginner roadmap. On the higher level it becomes more and more complicated.
Aug 17, 2025
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#37
Honestly Chess.com has the best way to get better as a beginner which is to just play. Play the Coaches with takebacks, etc.
Aug 17, 2025
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#38
Journeyman2025 wrote:
@HeckinSprout In your defense, I can be nasty in putting others in their place when I feel it's warranted (looking at you @ionalionova).
Your point is valid in its own right; my concern with people like you is that you're opening yourself up for people to figuratively walk all over you. You're providing a service and you should be compensated for it. If you're not asking for that, it raises a red flag because with the way my brain works, it sends the message that you likely don't have the prep time, competence or patience required to deal with someone who learns differently (which may or may not be true in your situation, I can only speculate there).
There's a big difference between being a coach and being the right coach for somebody.
TLDR: Not being titled and offering services for free are automatic deal breakers in my book by personal principle, and I'm standing by them.
I have a day job, I don't need more money. I'm trying to grow a chess community on twitch and youtube. Maybe someday those will generate extra income. Maybe not. Either way, I'm offering help to people because I want to and because not all people have the extra money to afford coaching sessions. If that's not your philosophy, that's fine. To each their own.
Aug 17, 2025
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#39
You need to ask yourself: "What do I want out of chess?"
Are you looking for chess to be strictly a fun past time?
Are you looking to actually improve?
After you decide you need to find a happy medium. But all the lessons, coaching, etc will not make you a better player as long as all youre playing is speed chess. Even one of your daily games you lost in 14 moves and you took 1-2 minutes per move.
If you enjoy playing speed chess then keep playing it. But all youre doing is reinforcing bad habits by playing fast and that will not translate into improvement. Whatever you decide. Have fun!
It's an interesting idea to overhaul the website with a beginners section. I think NM
mikewier made a good point with how different people learn differently. So there would obviously be some challenges and a one size fits all approach wouldn't necessarily work.
I would add though about coaches - there are many, many people on this website that offer coaching / advice for free. It just takes a little digging to find us. A lot of us aren't titled players, but as long as someone is at least 500 rating points above you, I think you can learn a lot from them.