The little "gear" on the upper right of the browser window.

I will check when i get to my pc and report back, but yes,there's a way.. there's probably one in Windows too from the desktop.. try right clicking on the Chrome icon and see if you can choose open on maximum.

I assume you're right-clicking on links & selecting "Open link in new tab"?
The link opens in a new tab, & you have to click on the tab to see the page that loaded.

There are a couple "tab manager" extensions in the Chrome web store that allow you to use keyboard shortcuts to move left/right through tabs & organize open tabs in various ways, not sure if those would help you.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/switch%20to%20tab]

You've got good taste!

My wife developed an appreciation for peated single malt Scotch during her time in Scotland & it's one of about a billion reasons why I love her.

Download the extension linked below. Then go to options and click on "When new tab is created select the new tab". Any new tab, either from a link or if it is an empty new tab, will be the focused, visible tab automatically, without an extra click.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/flst-chrome/ajnianifcggmdojhnmjichjmnjpplcha

Edited to add four words to the last line.

I often have multiple "source" tabs open, for example, news articles about something I'm writing about.

I also have one or more "target" tabs open, to the sites where I'm writing my comments, usually DU, Twitter, & Farcebook, in that order.

I open two chrome windows, offset a bit from each other, & open all my "source" tabs in one window, & all my "target" tabs in the other window. Then I can use Alt-Tab to quickly switch between the two windows. This may be obvious to everyone but just in case is isn't, I wanted to share.

I also use this to Alt-Tab to MS Windows when I'm writing a longer piece.