The only books / lessons necessary to reach 2000?

I just started playing chess. If I only want to get decent at chess, is it possible to just focus on 1 thing and ignore the other aspects until reaching a certain rating? For example, I've heard not to study openings and to just drill tactics. So this means opening shouldn't even be considered until certain rating, right?

I don't know where to start. There's information everywhere that it will turn newbies crazy. I already know about controlling the center, develop pieces, connect the rooks, don't double your pawns, isolate the enemy's pawns.

I have Logical Chess: Move By Move

and The Art of Attack

Chess openings: Yasser Seirawan

Winning Chess Endings Yasser Seirawan

Those are good places to start.  Have you read them all already?

I'm halfway through Logical Chess: move by move. Everything I know, I learned it from it and Chess.com.  I'm really enjoying it and I was wondering how far can I go with the least amount of books or courses since I'm just a recreational player. I've heard to just focus on tactics since many non-expert players will fall for a tactic and that will give you a significant advantage for the rest of the game

I only had 4 chess books up to 1800. And another 4 to 7 books to 2000. Apparently I started focusing on openings when I was a beginner. 

Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

To be honest, any book that sparks genuine interest in studying because whatever you pick it will just be the beginning of your journey. Underrated books for beginners are more general books like chess for dummies or the complete idiot's guide to chess. Both give a nice overview of the game. But if you had to pick one thing, then tactics. 

Nice! I'm sorry if I offended you or 2,000+ players. Maybe I made it seem like it's achievable with very few resources and less years of dedication. Which 4 books took you to 1800? Is 1800 a good level to understand and enjog chess broadcasted games? I was watching Nakamura vs. Dubov trying to follow up with the commentators and my limited knowledge

Thank you! I just mentioned 2,000 as an arbitrary number. I would just want to know enough to understand broadcasted chess games and enjoy the hobby more in depth.

Thank you! I just found out there's video series on sale and for free as well. Finding resources is not difficult, knowing which ones to learn and in which order is the difficult part :-)

I really don't think there is a "you only need this" answer.  I am not a 2000 level player, but was thinking of making it a real goal at some point.  I think tactics is a common suggestion and I would say it is a great thing to work on (I have been trying more tactics training myself).  I would expect someone who is really good at tactics would be better at seeing moves to exploit weaknesses in their opponents and possibly identify what an opponent might be going after with their moves.  

I often see people say not to study openings, but I think what they mean is that there is so much material in opening study, that it could be a time sink for new players.  I think it is good to put some time into openings, just try to be smart about it.  I really liked the answer Fourqueens13 gave though.  Any book or resource that gives you a genuine interest in playing and studying is probably the best bet.  For me, that was "Reassess your Chess" by Jeremy Silman.  That was the book that really opened my eyes to good pieces and bad pieces and how to improve your position.  I am sure other books told me similar things, but I just never grasped it until that book.    

I suggest to browse my blog.  You are likely to find some helpful information & resources there that will benefit you...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

Honestly I don't think it takes any books to reach 2000. 

If you annotate master games, analyze your own games, learn/understand and implement skills such as positional play, tactics, endgames, the principles etc., use your experiences in the game , as well as be dedicated and work hard I think it is just as good or even better than reading a book to be a stronger player. Truth be told it is be easier to read a book but the information previously said would make it more effective than reading a book to increase your skills.

There is nothing personally I have against reading, I just don't think it requires for 2000, perhaps try a NM or IM. Trust me my fellow people I think it is more than possible.

I also didn't have to read a book to get to my level, watching videos and learning from experiences are a lot more effective in my opinion, but again reading is fine if you feel if that is the option for you. 

@meyekal Thank you. Yes, there's complete books, video series about only 1 opening. Imagine you can't even play it because your opponents keep doing their own things, haha.

@RussBell Thanks. I'm reading it and reviewing my games since I only play and never review them.

@Epiloque Thank you. Do you understand GM games (when they're a being broadcasted on Twitch and here with commentators) at your level already? Are they fun to watch? I still get confused watching them.

@TeacherOfPain. Excellent. You answered my other thought, what are the only things needed to get to a good rating. Do you understand GM games broadcasted on twitch and here with commentators? They're still difficult for me to follow up. 

@Trainer_Red99, most of their moves are comprehendable, I would say 80% of it. 

It is the brilliant moves that is hard to find and once it gets to that most cannot find what they did, even the other GM's they play.

I suggest watching Agadmator videos on youtube, he analyzes Super GM games step by step and not only is it entertaining but it is effective to learn.

I recommend the 9 books from Yusupov

I cannot tell the book titles but im giving hints. It took me lots of effort just to reasearch good books, spent money, and lots of trial an error. Effort/trial an error for example they say start with endgames but did not improve my game at all. Many say just do tactics it did not help neither. I got interested on 60 to 70 chess books but only decided to 4 solid books; some additional interesting  books to move further.  Im not saying I know reading and training  secrets but at least it worked for me. And hey that is in a span of ten years. A bit slow, but still im very happy with it. I see too many stay around 1400-1700.

Thank you. I found it on Chessable. I bought The Art of Attack for chessable too since it saves me time arranging the board.

@StyleGiant. It must be a federal secret :-)

@Trainer_Red99, it seems like you are in good shape for what you need to read and what you need to do, keep at it!

Thank you! I got my questions answered and I found online interactive books on the other website on sale. I bought these 3 since they were already available there: The Art of Attack, Yusupov's fundamentals 1, and 100 Endgames you must know. I couldn't find the other recommendations on that website, but these 3 seem pretty dense, and I only wanted to get decent and understand my games and GM broadcasts.