The Basics
The basics, how the pieces move, the object of the game, etc. are well covered by chess.com https://www.chess.com/learn and Lichess https://lichess.org/learn#/. These are the two most popular chess websites. Beginners should start here, including anyone who learned as a child but may have missed some details: checkmate vs stalemate, pawn promotion, castling, and en passant.
Both sites also contain enough to get started and a good deal more. The basics are available without creating an account, but you should create an account if you want to learn chess.
Lichess provides full access to all features and is open source. Chess.com is a freemium model, where many features are available for free but more become available if you pay. The PlayMagnus group acquired Chess.com and many chess-related sites and you will see links to them from the learn pages on Chess.com. Two I recommend are https://www.chessable.com/ and https://aimchess.com/.
The main reason Chess.com and Lichess.org exist is to provide a place for people to play online. I found it important to learn how to disable chat and play bots.
https://www.chesskid.com is designed to provide a secure learning option for kids online adding a bit more anonymity and security.
Chess YouTube, Twitch, and Podcasts
There is a ton of content on chess available. Here are some of my favorite podcasts and videos. Other club members should make suggestions. The players providing top instruction online are not necessarily the best, but they are good. I will be adding links to videos, podcasts, and Twitch streams from many internet chess celebrities. Including Gotham Chess and Eric Rosen responsible for many bad openings becoming popular.
- Agadamator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7hc715hvVg This is a video recap of when Marshall unveiled the Marshall Gambit against The Ruy Lopez in a game against Capablanca. Agadamator is one of the first Chess YouTubers I learned about; he recaps many great historical games and matches. His channel is https://www.youtube.com/@agadmator
- Ben Johnson’s https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/ is one of the most informative chess podcasts available. https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/getting-started offers a list of 10 episodes, including an interview with Agadamator and one with Albany native Philemon Thomas.
Other ways to learn
There are many other websites, tools, groups, and software to learn. Two I will add something about are Chessbase https://en.chessbase.com/ and CT-ART 4.0 https://learn.chessking.com/.