Dear veggiebob1,

Far more important than learning to make ”the essential chords”, is learning to make a very small collection of them, in order to play a song. 
After all, the main reason we want to learn to play the guitar is to be able to play songs, or complete musical pieces from start to finish - not just to demonstrate how many chords we have under our belt.

So rather than looking at the ‘essential chords’ as a big pile of seemingly random challenges, you want to learn them as a certain small group of chords tend to relate to one another, in the context of a piece of music. 

What is the most efficient way to get from chord #1 in the song to chord #2 in the song? It is all about the transitions! Smoothly, on time, in sync with the overall piece of music. One song won’t likely contain that many individual chords - so that narrows the field of study for you (in a good way!)

I don’t know what your musical taste is or your skill level, but you might consider looking in our Songs section for a song you like, and decide to commit to - or following one of our courses that teaches guitar with a song-based model (such as my Fundamentals Course). 

Of course, as you do all of this and focus on what it takes to play THE SONG, your hands are naturally growing stronger and more coordinated- to ease you into upping the game later on down the road. 

Hope helps a little! Be well and have fun, Lisa