As someone who started on chess.com after a bit of practice I would not say very high at all. I wound up around 600, but that was after about 50 games. I would estimate someone who just learned to be around 300.
What rating can you expect after learning how the pieces move?
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Also depends on the age. A childe would have a remarkably low rating. An adult that just learn could reach 1000 in a few months are less.
When I first started playing on chess.com I think my rating dropped to about 800 (from the original 1200), and I'd say I knew a little bit more than just how the pieces move.
I feel like it would be around 500-600 for an adult.
Wow, seems like I had a pretty bad start....
Well... I learned the rules a couple years before I joined chess.com, so in a way I had a head start. 
500 is probably where it is for an adult. I read somewhere that most people who knows how the pieces move and are not chess players have a rating 200-600. roux.
shell_knight wrote:
Give your answer in whatever you like e.g. USCF, FIDE, or chess.com.
I used to think around 1000 for an adult beginner who was wiling to concentrate... but years later I decided that was wrong.
Some say 500, but I wonder about that too.
Let me know what you think and/or what the conventional wisdom is.
500-600
I think one thing we have to consider is that to get to a rating of 500 or lower, you have to lose quite a few games. And over the course of those games, you're probably going to pick up on some strategy/ tactics related stuff. So by the time you reach your rating floor, you already know more than just how the pieces move.
Nov 26, 2014
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#11
I would say between 100 and 300 USCF based on some tournaments I've run.
10-200ish
Once you learn how the pieces move you are deemed a "Candidate Master." That's all I know.
You'll be invited to challenge Carlsen.
So the answer is somewhere between 10 and 1000
Glad we sorted that one out. 
I think if all you know is how the pieces move, mothing more, the ratings would be VERY low. Of course, you could figure out a little bit by yourself. But if you truly only know how the pieces move, and not how to checkmate effectively or make a good plan, you're pretty much screwed. You'd get beaten by pretty much anybody who would play you.
I think a child under 10 could get to about 200 USCF
A kid under 15 might get to 300 USCF
An average adult might get to 400 USCF
And a smart adult might get to 500 USCF
>> But if you truly only know how the pieces move, and not how to CHECKMATE
effectively
but if you can checkmate INEFFECTIVELY then more power to ya
The pieces move when somebody or something moves them. How knowing that is going to help you win a game is a mystery to me
What he means is that every force has an equal and opposite reaction. Newtonian physics. So the answer would be approx 31415926
No, not 1000 -- that's actually a pretty good achievement for any casual player. If you just learned how the pieces moved and not, for example opening principles, I would say adults would average around 400; some will be a little higher than that and some a little lower. You have to keep in mind just how much pattern recognition even the advanced beginner has had to develop. Not only would blunders be everywhere; the strategy would almost be random. Even if you're smart there's just very little to grasp onto the very first few times you play. Even the times in which you checkmate would probably seem random. The more I think about it, trying to imagine what it would be like without opening principles, 400 may be a little high.
Of course, this rating could change pretty quickly with a little work.
Give your answer in whatever you like e.g. USCF, FIDE, or chess.com.
I used to think around 1000 for an adult beginner who was wiling to concentrate... but years later I decided that was wrong.
Some say 500, but I wonder about that too.
Let me know what you think and/or what the conventional wisdom is.