Why Openings are Important

My uncle Jim and I used to play chess when I was a child.  He played in college, and would relentlessly beat me back then but we haven't played for years.  When I found chess.com I immediately thought this would be a good chance to try my luck with a few years of (life) experience. 

 

The lesson I learned from this game is that the opening can really set the stage for the entier game, especially when one player makes a few critical mistakes.  I lose my Knight early in a silly blunder that I could've overcome if not for other poor play that led to a tripled pawn file.  In retrospect I probably would've been better off playing a more conservative defense against someone I knew was better than me, but no regrets.  We've started the second game and I'm fairing much better playing as white.