I sometimes train new players at my chess club, and that gives me valuable insights into obstacles new players experience starting out their chess career. By the way, these new players are not beginners, but typically someone who has played online chess for a while, and wants to try club chess.
All of them have problems with setting up the board, handling the clock, and writing down the moves - their online chess service has always done that for them. However, the biggest problem is finding the move to play. When asked how the pick their moves, they say things like "I want to attack the King, so I look for moves that support that idea" or "I fear that he's attacking my King, so I look for moves that prevent that".
That's when I say "It's not you who decide what to move. The right move is hidden in the position, and your job is to find it." That's typically met with a blank stare. So what does it mean? Is there no room for free will in chess?
In chess books, you'll frequently see the expression "the position demands...". That means that the position wants to develop in a certain way, or more often, in one of several ways.
To find those moves. you need to develop your positional intuition. You do that by solving a lot of positional puzzles. These are not easily found online, but Lichess has a study on the subject. Combine this with analysing your own games. Find a critical position (i.e. where you didn't know what to play), and now, with Stockfish off, try to find some moves. That's much easier at home than during the game! When you're satisfied with your candidate moves, switch on Stockfish to have them evaluated. Don't worry if they are brutally dismissed. If Stockfish suggests something you didn't consider, take a moment to figure out why that move is good, and your moves were bad. Then move on to the next game and do it again.
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