How and what should I study given the following parameters?

I learned chess about 20 years ago. I played in some tournaments after being coached by my USCF Master college English professer. Then I found chess to be stressful and my ego was tied up into it, and I was frustrated losing games to stupid mistakes. After a few months of play and 10 tournament games, I had a provisional USCF rating just above 1300.

I didn't play chess for 12 years, and then in 2011 I decided to join a club for social reasons. Being a bit more mature, I left my ego to the side and decided to try to learn all I could. I went to the club 3 times a week for several hours and played anyone I could. I also started studying tactics and lessons on Chess.com. I also started to spend several hours a day reading chess books. I played in a couple local tournaments and could have good games against 1400 or so rated players. My rating went up a bit after a few games, though its just provisional. Then I started getting frustrated and my ego started to come into play as I realized just how weak I was, and despite a lot of effort, I wasn't improving much. Plus I was still making a lot of blunders, and some people would beat me like a child. Being an adult and playing like a child doesn't make me feel good. I quit the game for another 6 years.

I keep coming back to chess because it fascinates me. I love doing tactical puzzles. I don't feel like my rating is the level that I would top out at if I tried again. I want to get back into the social aspect of hanging out at the club, and I want to get back into tournament play. I'm willing to spend the time and do the work to get better. I'm willing to accept that I'm a weak player right now, and that doesn't mean I'm stupid or a bad person.

Sorry for this long winded post. What I'd like to know is how to make the best use of my time studying and playing? I am going to buy the platinum membership on Chess.com and I have over 10 books on chess focusing on Tactics, Strategy, Endgame, and Thought process. Lets pretend I have 3 hours a day to study and play. How should I divide my time?

Here are some books I have:

-Chess Fundamentals, Jose Capablanca

-Pandolfini's Endgame Course

-The Complete Book of Chess Strategy, Jeremy Silman

-My System, Aron Nimzowitsch

-Chess tactics for the tournament player

-The Amateur's Mind, Jeremy Silman

-Studying Chess Made Easy, Andrew Soltis

-How to Reassess your chess, Jeremy Silman

-Silman's Complete Endgame Course

-303 Tactical Chess Puzzles, Fred Wilson & Bruce Albertson

These are the books I have. I also have the Chessmaster 10 Engine for analysis, and I'm going to purchase Chess.com membership. With 3 hours a day available, how would you use all this stuff for the best efficacy. I don't have any delusions of becoming a master, but If I could get to maybe 1600, then I could play more competitively with the people at the club. That would be 200-300 USCF rating points than I usually am when I've been playing regularly.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Brian...

     3 hours a day for chess sounds like heaven to me.  If I were you I would buy Fritz 15 or Chessbase as they can be a tremendous aid for improving your chess.  Stockfish is a free chess engine on the internet and you can import it into Fritz 15 or Chessbase.

     I believe that the most important avenue for improvement is to record and go over your games and search for areas where you could have done better.  Play chess games with a longer time control (hopefully at least 15 minutes and maybe as much as 30 minutes or an hour).  Blitz and bullet chess are mainly rubbish for amateur players and it teaches them to keep making the same mistakes over and over and puts their chess mind into a rut. You need some time to come up with good plans and tactics.

     I like some of the books you have such as MY SYSTEM, THE AMATEUR'S MIND and SILMAN'S ENDGAME COURSE. 

     You didn't list any opening materials.  I would want to have some opening materials about the Queen's Gambit Declined or Gruenfeld Defence; The Sicilian Defence or 1...e5 against 1. e4. 

     Doing 15-20 minutes on tactics, 3 to 5 times during the week will help a lot. 

     I am going to repeat myself, but analyzing your games and why you won or lost will lead to the greatest improvement in your chess skill.

     Good luck!!

Why everybody wants to improve their ratings? Just play and have fun. You don't win any money If You increase your rating.

We are not here for money or fame! We are here to win matches!

@Chessguitar have you read any of the books you have?  

I am starting to work methodically through How to Reassess Your Chess.  I like the concept of glancing at a board, assessing the imbalances and using those imbalances to plan my next moves.

Some of the suggestions here might be of help...

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

 by the way...I dabble at guitar as well.....

First step. Stop buying more books until you have finished these.  You have enough for now.

Second step.  Tactics for an hour a day - first by reading the 2 books you have: secondly using the tactics trainer on this site.

Third step. Study the Silman series for an hour a  day (start with the easiest and work up to the tough ones)

Fourth step. Play for an hour a day.

When you've finished these books, study the endgame 

For now, focus all of your attention on the Endgame. Positions with reduced complexity will set a foundation for the rest of your Chess career. Most players underestimate the Endgame and don't see the long-term value. As a byproduct, Endgame will train Tactics, Visualization, Planning, imbalances, and every other topic. When you can visualize a full Pawn race and work your way up to more and more pieces. You'll be glad you studied the Endgame. You will grow in rating with pure Endgame. You will also have a confidence knowing that as the game progresses, you get stronger. Below is another gem from a brilliant Chess Psychologist.

Adriaan de Groot;

1. Orientation-(Appreciation of a Chess position; Imbalances; My System; Kotov TLAGM; Silman's Endgame course; etc...

2. Suggestions-(Candidate moves that suggest themselves based on Step 1).

3. Investigate-(Look at each candidate and figure out if they meet the demands of the position.

4. Calculate( Blunder-Check; Concrete Analysis of variations; Tactics; Discover any exceptions.

Groot said that players can fail at any point in these steps.

If you can force yourself to follow these steps in every position and automate this process. Your games will have more value because you can identify where you messed up.

The idea is to do this for a long period of time and make the necessary connections in order to grow your Chess understanding. Including defining yourself as a player(strengths, weaknesses, fears, etc..

Afterwards, you can move on to other topics once you have an assessment of what you need to work on.

Work on your losses. You need to find the reason why you make weak moves and stop yourself from making them. 

After your opponent makes a move, ask yourself "What is the threat?"

Before you make your move, ask yourself "Is he going to take something for free?"

And always develop/re-deploy your worst-placed piece before you attack.

Progress is made when you get rid of your weaknesses.