Beginner? Don't use this opening - It's too theoretical! Better yet, don't learn any openings!

I used to just play the dragon, and play Rxc3 whenever I could

So ah - at the risk of being annoying to this thread, do you think the Urusov gambit is fundamentally unsound? Or would it fit into the category mentioned above "well if neither player has many clues about chess it's as good as anything else"

I like it because I'm so crap at learning openings, and it's like throwing a grenade onto the board, there is action right from the start so it seems like it would be a good way to get the other person off book.

Have seen a titled player use the Elephant gambit a few times in live (in the same vein?), he has produced some carnage against other strong players.

being me : under 1300 I was memorzing opening moves, and it turned out to be helpful

pog 

theory is useful for beginners, as long as it isn't the sole thing they're learning. there's gotta be a balance

But why. E4 is obviously superior

If you have to stir up counterplay in the opening as white...

Then the opening is bad.

uh, what is vans?

oh, vant krujis, ok

hmm, could you show a good line for it?

Well...

If you could have a good toothbrush for 1$, (e4) and a slightly different but not inferior toothbrush for the same price (d4) and then a toothbrush that is found to be worse than the other ones (e3), the last one isn't a bad choice, but it is better to take one of the first two.

D4 is proven to be a good opening. C4 is as well. Just play the top 4.

From the book Pump Up Your Rating by Axel Smith

How to study Chess:

"Openings - studying them in such a way that you also learn middlegame positions and standard moves"

"Dubious lines may work from time to time, but in the long run it's best for your chess development to play what the grandmasters play. "

Win/Draw/Loss in games when both players are 2700+ FIDE rating

Not all openings have to fit your tastes to be good openings.

Is this not a good enough reason? No need to play passive in the opening.

Magnus Carlsen with White when facing 2800 opponents.

Not really.

Lots of boring people playing the London and lots of people playing KID

Along with Gruenfeld and dutch, also occasionally Benoni and Benko and some others I probably forgot.

benoni and benko are quite underrated