What is a Redirect Chain?
A redirect chain occurs when there are several redirections between the initial and final URLs.
For example, you visit URL A, which redirects you to URL B, which redirects you to URL C, and it goes on like that until it gets to URL Z.
While redirects are okay, redirect chains are not. They can cause many issues, including poor user experience and longer load times. Since sites lose link juice with each redirection, a redirect chain will cause you to lose more than necessary.
It also includes the issue of search engines following redirect chains to some extent before giving up. Google, for instance, will follow a redirect chain only upto 5-10 redirects before giving up and returning some error message.