The scoth gambit
This is my first time that I'm studing a chess opening.
At first I thought I would have to know around 8 moves in a straight line, but after I started gathering information I was proven to be wrong. There are thousands of variations for every opening.
In this article I'll talk about the scotish gambit:
The main idea from any gambit is to get a better development than the oponent, at the price of some material.
At this point black have some possible moves like:
4. ... Bc5, with the idea to protect the pawn in d4
4. ... Nf6, giving up from the d4 pawn.
[1] If Black plays 4. ... Bc,5 white have 2 main choices:

Here's a match involving a scotch gambit:
In my point of view white will have to battle to develop his queenside
To learn some bases about studying openings.
http://chess-training.blogspot.com/2006/11/how-to-study-opening-amateurs.html
[1] Great video with much information about the scotish gambit.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5755617735639125927# -
[2] A Lazy PLayer's guide to the Scotch Gambit
http://chessteacher.110mb.com/2007/11/17/a-lazy-players-guide-to-the-scotch-gambit
[3] http://web.archive.org/web/20020803234939/www.pawnpusher.co.uk/scotgam2.html
[4] http://www.eudesign.com/chessops/sgam-app.htm
leziate and meniscuz for giving extra information about the opening