How do I improve my positional understanding?

Sometimes, I'm doing puzzles for 2000 rated players and up. I get them right after some thought, but I can't even explain how I do it. Maybe it's pure intuition? However, this doesn't seem to work out quite well on actual games. Most of the time I'm nervous and uncertain of what I should do, so I don't trust my intuition, as there is no basic study towards strategy and positional elements. My strategy is the worse aspect of my chess skill, and I wish to know how can I improve it.

Plus, sometimes I see GMs leaving pieces to be taken or not capturing them, as well as playing moves that just look dumb to me. How do I acquire the vision to understand what is happening?

What do you mean? Your puzzles rating looks normal to me. You aren’t doing tactics for 2000s.

I'm not talking about the regular chess.com tactics, of course

Mostly referring to books and articles in general. These aren't necessarily common tactics like forks, checkmates etc.

Ah. Have you read Reassess Your Chess?

Not yet, but I've read some of Silman's texts

Play longer games and make a list of factors to look for. Do them unrated with a friend (I prefer 30|30 or 30|0 so you never run out of time) and apply this on every move. Eventually you'll apply more and more ingame and your positional skills will get better.

I'd also recommend Silman's How to reassess your chess. Work on it from cover to cover (no matter how long it takes), and you'll improve your positional understanding a lot.

Hmm maybe I should actually read a book about chess fully... nah. Books are unnecessary for some people.

I wouldn't see them as "necessary", but they can boost your chess skills

Check out the book “Simple chess” pdf is available. 
I  just started to read it and create lichess study of every chapter to remember it… got like 15 games in from there each one is gold. it’s about strategy and outposts and stuff I really like it… the way this book explains outposts is just beautiful. It explains how attacks (and tactics) don’t come out of nowhere but from strategically superior positions and how to improve middle game pawn structure understanding and outpost creating/identifying skill 

I have been reading about this topic just now, and what I have read is that positional understanding stems from correctly evaluating a position, which in turn can be done by applying these criteria to white and black:

1. Material

2. King safety

3. Activity of pieces

4. Space advantage / pawn structure

If I am wrong or inaccurate, please correct me, as I am learning myself

Have you read the first two or three pages of this thread, and played over the sample games?

GM Larry Evans' method of static analysis - Chess Forums - Chess.com

It deals with the question of how to assess a position and come up with a strategy.

I have read some, will be going back to it again and again. Better than any book for me so far

Thanks!

Good Positional Chess, Planning & Strategy Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy

Man, you are not alone.

I have the same problem.

My positional understanding is very bad. Now I even think that I lose many game because of just that. )

Good. Tell me, please. Who is author of this book with attractive title "Simple Chess".

By the way how can  Chess be simple? )

https://archive.org/details/Simple_Chess_New_Algebraic_Edition/mode/2up Here's the pdf they were talking about

Oh..  thank you.

Spasibo.

Needed it for a project I'm working on for this club https://www.chess.com/club/beginners-and-masters

#shamelessplug but not really... Anyways, do you have any similar resources? Trying to collect them.