I have over 45 chess books but I don't understand a single one of them

The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/

50 Essential Chess Lessons by Steve Giddins

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708100833/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review534.pdf

http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/50_Essential_Chess_Lessons.pdf

That's totally correct. I flit from book to book thinking the next one will be the one that will open my eyes to the truths of chess.

 

I think I will get Chernev's Most Instructive Games of chess ever played first.

 

And then Giddins.

 

Lol.  Wouldn't it be great if it worked that way?

I feel like How to Reassess Your Chess (The 4th ed.) by Jeremy Silman is a really good book for those in the 1300+ rating range. It covers a variety of topics from static imbalances to passed pawns. 

I can't understand a word that Silman writes.

"How to Reassess Your Chess, 4th Edition was designed for players in the 1400 to 2100 range." - IM Jeremy Silman (2010)

"... I'm convinced that Silman's [Complete Endgame Course] will take its place in history as one of the most popular endgame books ever. ... He writes in a clear and casual style, and time and again has shown the ability to reach those who feel intimidated by the lofty approach that a grandmaster will often take. ... he defines what he thinks is necessary to know at specific rating levels. ..." - IM John Watson (2007)

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all

A large portion of the endgame book was written for players from beginner to 1600.

@pdve -

Checking your stats we see that you have played the following:

Blitz = 4467 games

Rapid = 1110 games

Bullet = 578 game

Daily = 198 games

You should focus on playing more daily games and less on fast time controls.  Slower time controls will allow you to have more time to think about what you are doing, as opposed to moving pieces around quickly trying to avoid checkmate, in hopes that your opponent's clock runs out before yours does.....

https://www.chess.com/article/view/longer-time-controls-are-more-instructive

As far as books, I recommend to begin studying the following books (discussed in my blog article - link below).  They are appropriate for your level.  If you take your time, think about what is presented, and follow along the text with a chessboard, you should easily be able to understand them.  For the first three, read them in the order presented, completing one before starting the next.....

1. Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan (optional, but recommended)

2. Weapons of Chess by Bruce Pandolfini (a must-read)

3. Simple Chess by Michael Stean (a must-read)

4. Back to Basics - Strategy by Valeri Beim (highly recommended)

5. Elements of Positional Evaluation by Dan Heisman (recommended)

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

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708084653/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review742.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092512/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review842.pdf

"... I know that a large percentage of my readers almost exclusively play on the internet – after all, you are reading this on the internet, right!? But there is a strong case for at least augmenting internet play with some OTB play, whether in a club or, better yet, a tournament. Tournament play gives you the kind of concentrated, slow chess that often helps improve your game, especially if you are inexperienced at slow play. I would guess that players who have never played OTB usually gain 50-100 points of playing strength just from competing in their first long weekend tournament, assuming they play five or more rounds of very slow chess. ... Sure, an occasional weekend event takes a lot more of your time, but the benefits are comparatively greater if improvement is your ultimate goal. Don’t have two day? Try a one-day quad (a round-robin among four similarly rated players). How often should you play? If you are trying to improve that means as often as you can, but playing lots of slow games can be tiring and time consuming, so most people are not able to play an OTB tournament every weekend even if one was available down the block. A minimum of 8 OTB tournaments and about 100 slow games a year is a reasonable foundation for ongoing improvement. ... Can’t make 100? Then try for 60. If you only play three or fewer tournaments a year and do not play slow chess regularly at a club (or on-line, where G/90 and slower play is relatively rare), then do not be surprised that you are not really improving. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627052239/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman16.pdf

I consider "Reassess...." to be too advanced for players rated below 1600 USCF.  A much more appropriate and instructive book for these players would be Silman's "The Amateur's Mind".

I am inclined to agree. It is perhaps worthwhile to keep in mind that 1400 is the lower extreme of the range, 1400-2100, given by Silman for HTRYC. Again, it is a very different situation for the endgame book, where a very large portion is written for the beginner-1600 range.

I recommend the "Chess Fundamentals" video series by John Bartholomew.  He is an excellent presenter and teacher....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-JGqEiNs-I&list=PLl9uuRYQ-6MBwqkmwT42l1fI7Z0bYuwwO&index=2

You might also check out his chess instruction site.....Chessable.....IMO it's very good.....

https://www.chessable.com/

 Hi ,only one thing, have fun with chess, chess is beyond human comprehension (and maybe computers too)

 

Your guilty of what many players are guilty of:

1. You over assess your abilities.

2. Youre buying into "Quantity over quality"

The first thing you need to do is be honest with yourself, and your skill level.  

The second thing, is you need to get books that are appropriate for your skill level.

Thirdly...Limit yourself to 1 endgame book, 1 book on tactics, and a classic like Zurich '53.  STUDY them THOUROUGHLY.  Why do i capitalize "study", and "thouroughly"?  Well...because that is what you need to do.  Use a real board, and pieces.

My suggestions:

Silmans Complete Endgame Course, or De La Villa's 100 endings you must know.

Winning Chess Tactics - Seirwan.

Zurich '53

IF you insist on an opening book get one of the books in the "Move by Move" series.  

I know well the problem. We all went through a long process of buying books, reading a little bit, buying more books, etc.
I don’t have this problem anymore. When I buy a book, I do it with the goal of learning the whole book.

Not “read”, but learn everything. I do this in Chessable. There you have to review your things everyday. Things that you know well you have to review only rarely.

It is that simple.

I still work with classical books from my library, but this is more for fun, for my pleasure. Serious learning I do only in Chessable.

For example, I am learning in Chessable a book with 1051 tactics. I learned already 917. Today I should review 42 of the exercises, and 8 of the positions are specially difficult for me.
With this kind of information is easy for me to stay focus and motivated in my study. It’s all about discipline and let the time work for you.

Thank you all very much. I'm in the same boat as the OP. Great post, I hope it helps to get me out of this rut I've been in.

the books that you listed are advance. try logical chess move by move by chernev or winning chess strategy by seirawan.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf