A Call for a Real Beginner Roadmap on Chess.com

Not sure if this has already been addressed, but the Lesson section is structured in a logical way. You just need to click on Learn -> Lessons -> Lesson Library -> Guide

(Or, to go right to the Guide: https://www.chess.com/lessons/guide)

It's structured with Lessons by skill level (New to Chess -> Beginner -> Intermediate -> Advanced). And each category has lessons structured in a specific order.

This is not the same as searching the site for Lessons made by random members/coaches - the Guide section is filled with structured lessons by Chess.com itself.

I recommend starting at the beginning and working your way through them, in order.

Start with the first category (New to Chess), and click. It takes you to "Learn to Play Chess". Then you click on the first lesson (The King and the Goal). It has a one-minute video and 5 challenges to complete. Then you move to the next lesson ... and so on. Go until you complete the "Learn to Play Chess" section.

Then go back to the Guide (https://www.chess.com/lessons/guide) and move to the next Lesson.

Don't skip anything. Read all the tips. Watch all the videos. Do all the challenges. This seems to be what you're looking for.

Here's a screenshot of how your progress might look:

If you look, you'll see a checkmark that says I completed the entire "Learn to Play Chess" section - which means I completed all 13 lessons within that category, and completed all the challenges in it. Now I'm on "Playing the Game", which has 7 lessons in it, and you can see it says "72% Complete" on the bottom right. So I still have more to do in that section.

So it keeps track of your progress through the lessons in a logical way ...

MaetsNori thank you for your comment and your suggestion. As I addressed earlier I’ve already mentioned the Guide section and its 6 lessons. It’s simply not enough or perhaps, as another user pointed out the beginner material is not well organised especially when compared to the hundreds of lessons available on the site.

The main point of criticism here is that the site should also be more oriented toward beginners and that the platform should be more beginner-friendly for those who are just taking their first steps rather than opening the blogs or Chess.com TV and mainly seeing intermediate or advanced level content

I understand your criticism about the site having room for improvement, when it comes to organizing and guiding. I'm in agreement with you there.

Though, I'm wondering if you've gone through the Lessons guide and moved in chronological order from top to bottom?

Starting here: https://www.chess.com/lessons/guide, I'm assuming you've already completed the "New to Chess" section, and its 13 lessons (if not, you should start there and complete them all).

Moving down to the next section, (Beginner), we have: Section 1 (Playing the Game). There are: 7 individual lessons, 43 minutes of video, and 35 challenges to complete.

After that, we move down to:

Section 2: (Opening Principles), has 5 individual lessons, with 26 minutes of video, and 31 challenges to complete.

Section 3: (Winning the Game) - 5 individual lessons, 16 minutes of video, 25 challenges to complete

Section 4: (Capturing Pieces) - 9 individual lessons, 34 minutes of video, 45 challenges to complete

Section 5: (Finding Checkmate) 6 individual lessons, 20 minutes of video, 30 challenges to complete

Section 6: (Intro to Book Openings) - 5 individual lessons, 21 minutes of video, 25 challenges to complete

All together that's ... over 2.5 hours of video learning, and over 190 challenges to complete, for the Beginner section. Have you watched it all and completed it all?

It seems like an excellent starting point, if you haven't done so already.

MaetsNori thanks again for your comment. I’ve already completed the 6 beginner guides, as well as the intermediate ones … twice! While they’re quite engaging, they’re really the only beginners structured theory content this site offers. And honestly, that alone isn't enough to reach an intermediate level or get past the 500 rating.

Some others here have mentioned that there might be more lessons for beginners, and that could be true but once again, the organization of the site makes it hard to find and follow for someone just starting out.

That’s really my main point: for a paid platform it would be great to see a more structured and accessible path for beginners especially when some free alternatives websites already offer similar content

Gotchya. It's great to see that you've already moved through what's there to offer.

In that case, yes, I agree with you that things don't seem to be structured in a coherent way - especially when it comes to what you're asking for.

Yes. I think beginners should forget about learning and applying basic chess principles. They already do that, right? And they don't need to be concerned about how little or much they play. It's waaaay more complicated than that. They need a chess web site that provides them with a "step by step guide focused on beginners", a "more structured learning environment", more "interactive study tools". They'll be stuck at 500 until chess.com gets their act together.

It's the same with music. If you want to be a good guitar player, for example, it's not about listening to music, leaning the chords and practicing. You need special learning techniques and organized study methods.

And what's with all these videos and books clearly designed for people who already know how to play chess??? Don't they realize they're useless for beginners???

https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-get-better-at-chess

Being obscure, blowing smoke, is a great way to avoid scrutiny.

These are the simple facts:

1 - No one gets out of beginner mode without learning and applying basic chess principles... principles everywhere elucidated and explained. Memorize them.

2 - No one gets out of beginner mode without playing a lot of games. There is no substitute for experience, for practice, for actually playing chess. Common estimates are that, unless you're a child prodigy, becoming a solid player takes playing 2 - 4 hours a day minimum for 6 months to 2 years or more. There are no shortcuts.

If a beginner fails on either count, that's where their attention should be directed. This is for them to do, or not to do. It is not the responsibility of any chess platform.