user460: I'm aware of several excellent youtube channels that are free and provide some great insight into the game, such as:

Chess Network
Online Chess Lessons
ChessFriends.com
Kings Crusher
Mato Jelic
YM Chess Master (IM Andrew Martin)

What are a few other good resources (free only please!) that a new player can find and how can I use them effectively to improve?

user7386: Chess Strategy Online - A new site with free tutorials for beginners and novices.

user2078: I've found Mark Weeks' Chess for All Ages to be an excellent, free resource. There is a lot of advice for beginners and intermediate players alike on topics such as

Building an opening repertoire
Tactics and positional ideas for the middlegame
Explanations of basic endgames

There are also a dozen or so annotated "classic" games, where every move is explained in depth. I found this to be especially useful because I often missed the point of quiet moves.
Some of the material is quite dated and a few of the links are dead, but don't let that put you off - the overall quality of the articles is excellent.

user1964: There is an absolutely PHENOMENAL book on tactics, oriented towards beginners, available for free on the web. It's called "Predator at the Chessboard", by Ward Farnsworth, and you can find it at http://www.chesstactics.org/
The depth of coverage is good for even intermediates. But he really takes time to explain the tactics in English, which makes it very understandable to beginners.

user594: I notice (unless I missed it) that no one has mentioned Daniel King's youtube channel Power Play Chess.  You can subscribe for free.  I enjoy his "what happens next?" series, where he plays through a grandmaster game, stops at a crucial moment, and asks the viewer to pick the correct continuation from two possibilities.  The viewer then clicks one of two links to find out if they are correct.  

user47: A bit of self-promotion, I put together this PDF:
A solid understanding of pawn structures and their corresponding plans will improve your game by leaps and bounds, because books rarely do a good job of explaining this powerful area of chess knowledge so it will probably be mostly new information.  Hope you find it useful!  :)

user109: Here are some sites that I have found to be of great value:
chessopenings.com - NM Dereque Kelley explains openings very well.
The Chess Website - Excellent videos.
ChessVideos.tv - An abundant resource of top notch videos.
Exeter Chess Club coaching section - Excellent articles
ChessCafe columns (especially Dan Heisman's Novice Nook columns and Mark Dvoretsky's Instructor columns) - I can't recommend Dan Heisman enough,  his videos on ICC (not free) are excellent. Note: since the demise of the ChessCafe site these links point to the archive.org saved version.
50 Chess Games for Beginners - I stumbled upon this. Looks helpful, especially since the games are annotated.
Chess Visualization Training - Improve your visualization.

460: <p>I'm aware of several excellent youtube channels that are free and provide some great insight into the game, such as:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/ChessNetwork">Chess Network</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/OnlineChessLessons">Online Chess Lessons</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/ChessFriendsDotCom">ChessFriends.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/kingscrusher">Kings Crusher</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/MatoJelic">Mato Jelic</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/YMChessMaster">YM Chess Master (IM Andrew Martin)</a></li>
</ul>

<p>What are a few other good resources (free only please!) that a new player can find and how can I use them effectively to improve?</p>
 7386: <p><a href="http://www.chessstrategyonline.com" rel="nofollow">Chess Strategy Online</a> - A new site with free tutorials for beginners and novices.</p>
 2078: <p>I've found Mark Weeks' <a href="http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/" rel="nofollow">Chess for All Ages</a> to be an excellent, free resource. There is a lot of advice for beginners and intermediate players alike on topics such as</p>

<ul>
<li>Building an opening repertoire</li>
<li>Tactics and positional ideas for the middlegame</li>
<li>Explanations of basic endgames</li>
</ul>

<p>There are also a dozen or so annotated "classic" games, where every move is explained in depth. I found this to be especially useful because I often missed the point of quiet moves.</p>

<p>Some of the material is quite dated and a few of the links are dead, but don't let that put you off - the overall quality of the articles is excellent.</p>
 1964: <p>There is an absolutely PHENOMENAL book on tactics, oriented towards beginners, available for free on the web. It's called "Predator at the Chessboard", by Ward Farnsworth, and you can find it at <a href="http://www.chesstactics.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.chesstactics.org/</a></p>

<p>The depth of coverage is good for even intermediates. But he really takes time to explain the tactics in English, which makes it very understandable to beginners.</p>
 594: <p>I notice (unless I missed it) that no one has mentioned Daniel King's youtube channel <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/PowerPlayChess">Power Play Chess</a>.  You can subscribe for free.  I enjoy his "what happens next?" series, where he plays through a grandmaster game, stops at a crucial moment, and asks the viewer to pick the correct continuation from two possibilities.  The viewer then clicks one of two links to find out if they are correct.  </p>
 47: <p>A bit of self-promotion, I put together <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150921172649/http://www.lathamcity.com/docs/pawnstructures.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this PDF</a>:</p>

<p>A solid understanding of pawn structures and their corresponding plans will improve your game by leaps and bounds, because books rarely do a good job of explaining this powerful area of chess knowledge so it will probably be mostly new information.  Hope you find it useful!  :)</p>
 109: <p>Here are some sites that I have found to be of great value:</p>

<p><a href="https://chessopenings.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">chessopenings.com</a> - NM Dereque Kelley explains openings very well.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.thechesswebsite.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Chess Website</a> - Excellent videos.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.chessvideos.tv/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ChessVideos.tv</a> - An abundant resource of top notch videos.</p>

<p><a href="http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/category/topic/coaching" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Exeter Chess Club coaching section</a> - Excellent articles</p>

<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140714190611/http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/archives.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ChessCafe columns</a> (especially Dan Heisman's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140714190611/http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/archives.htm#Novice%20Nook" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Novice Nook columns</a> and Mark Dvoretsky's <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140714190611/http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/archives.htm#The%20Instructor" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Instructor columns</a>) - I can't recommend Dan Heisman enough,  his videos on ICC (not free) are excellent. Note: since the demise of the ChessCafe site these links point to the archive.org saved version.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.50chessgames.freeserve.co.uk/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">50 Chess Games for Beginners</a> - I stumbled upon this. Looks helpful, especially since the games are annotated.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.janmatthies.info/chess/cvt/cvt.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chess Visualization Training</a> - Improve your visualization.</p>
