But for the given title I expected something a little bit different.
"5 problems beginners face"
1. Information overload
With websites like chess.com inundating beginners with almost 40 different types of tactics alone, starting chess can seem overwhelming. Even worse, experienced players seem to know 100 different openings and reference games from champions who lived 100 years ago. It seems like it will take years of study just to have a conversation with chess players much less beat them in a game, and it's hard to know where to begin.
But the truth is you can start simply. The opening is about developing pieces. Practically all useful tactics can be reduced to the idea of the double attack. Practically all strategy can be reduced to the idea of piece activity (then have an annotated world championship game where simple principals are used to illustrate some of these basics).
2. Spending too much time on the opening
This part could talk about how players try to fix other issues like poor attacking/defending or poor strategic understanding by switching openings over and over, and memorizing many moves.
3. Spending too much time on strategy (or maybe we could call this not being greedy enough)
The Backyard Professor is the quintessential example. Adults are often interested in strategy, and why not? This is generally the most interesting aspect of the game. Sun Tsu was too kind when he said "Strategy without tactics is the slowest rout to victory." In chess, it's almost guaranteed defeat. A basic level of tactical competence should be the very first thing a student focuses on after learning all the basics. This is done by learning a few (not 40) tactical themes, and solving puzzles that help to illustrate them as well as mate in 1, 2, and 3 puzzles.
Greed should be #1 for chess beginners. Grandmasters sacrifice all the time, and it may not seem like a pawn is important, but greed wins games. As a beginner don't even let your opponent get ahead by a single pawn!
4. Playing too much speed chess
Blitz and bullet are fun, blah blah blah, we've all heard this before, but play long games if you want to improve.
5. Not learning from your mistakes
Win, lose, or draw, you definitely made mistakes. If you don't analyze your games you're doomed to repeat them. A beginner doesn't have to find them all, just find 1 per game. The biggest mistake. Ask yourself what precipitated it, and what you plan to do differently in future games to avoid it.
I love the idea of this article.
But I have to admit I re-read 2 and 3 a few times looking for the good advice without finding it. I agree with one of the comments below it, that #2 and #3 are... at least questionable (his word was "bogus").
It's like saying "to be a good person you do good things." Ok, but that's a truism. The sentence doesn't actually communicate anything.
"A good plan is attacking the enemy's weaknesses." Of course, even someone who has never played and has no interest in playing could tell you that.
The good advice you can squeeze out of 2 and 3 would be something like:
#2, CHESS IS A TEAM GAME try to give all your pieces a job whether it's attacking or defending. If you're not sure what to do, then look for a piece that seems to be doing the least and give it a job.
#3, ALWAYS ASK YOURSELF WHAT THE OPPONENT'S LAST MOVE CHANGED Carefully look at your opponent's last move for the news squares it attacks and the old squares it's left undefended. This can give you clues as to what your opponent's intentions are, and where your opponent might be weak.