Do You HAVE to Learn Openings to be Good?

Me too hate openings, therefor I almost solely play 960.

Below master level openings don't matter that much. In the opening, you have to develop the pieces, make castling, and connect the rooks. You can do it without concrete knowledge of opening theory. To be good, you have to play the endgame well, because normally a game between equal players is decided in the endgame. Also, opening theory won't help you if you don't know what to do in the middlegame. Study strategy and tactics.
 

From one perspective learning to be a strong chess player is like building a house.  You don't start by putting the roof on first.  Try to think of the roof as the openings in chess.  In order to build a house properly you begin by laying the concrete foundation.  Think of tactics, mating nets and endgame techniques as the foundation.  And think of the walls and the roof as the openings and the middlegame.

From another perspective when learning mathematics you don't begin with calculus.  Instead you learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide.  In other words, you begin with  the simple problems first then you go on to more commplicated problems.  Think of the beginning position in chess as the most complicated problem.  And, think of tactics, mating nets, and endgame techniques as adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.

Now, putting it all together there are 5 visualization patterns in chess that you  must build into your brain.  It is sort of like memorizing your multiplication tables (1x1=1...9x9=81).

The 5 visualization patterns are:

1. Mating Net visualization pattern memory bank.

2.Tactics visualization pattern memory bank.

3. Endgame visualization pattern memory bank.

4. Opening visualization pattern memory bank.

5. Middlegame visualization pattern memory bank.

If you would like to know more please let me know.

The answer to your question:   I'm wondering if you can be a good chess player without having to memorize like a bazillion openings and different variations of them and lines to take in all those variations?  YES

 ETA:  Also, what would "proper" opening preparation/mastery consist of?

         It consists of purchasing hardware and software,and learning how to use it. It will then next be necessary for you to select an opening repertoire.  An opening repertoire at your present stage of  development would consist of as White 2 openings (one beginning with 1.e4 and one beginning with  1.d4), as Black 2 openings (one in response to  1.e4 by White and one in response to 1.d4 by White).  A total of 4 openings to begin with.  Then you would have your hardware and software build an opening tree for you.  Then it will be necessary for you to practice your openings against the computer repeatedly for a period of about 2-3years.  Playing games against human opponents in between practice sessions steering the game as much as possible into the 4 openings that are in your opening repertoire.   

Would you have to know like 90-95% of all openings? NO

 How deep into each would you need to know (e.g. 10-...15 moves?)? YES, to begin with

  And how long does this type of mastery take to learn (years?...months?....)? 2-3 years to  begin with.  The learning process goes on  though for as long as you are playing that opening. 

Before purchasing the hardware and software and beginning the process of learning openings  it is much more important to  learn Mating Nets, Tactics, and Endgame techniques.  Remember the analogy of building a house or learning mathematics.

The easiest of the 5 visualization patterns to build into your brain is the Mating Net visualization pattern (K+Q vs. K, K+R vs. K, K+2Bs vs. K, K+B+N vs.  K).  It will take you about 3 months.  At that point you will begin to notice what every strong player experiences every time he plays a game.  I know because it  happens to me every time I play a game or analyzing any chesss position.  The experience is this:

When you are analyzing any position on a chess board or computer screen diagram, if there are mating nets in the position they will seem to jump up off the board and smack you on the forehead in a flash!! 

If you would like to know more please let me know 

My answer would be: "It depends."

If you're a master, of course you have to prepare and know more than if you are lower rated.

However, if you are still low-rated, the most important thing IMO regarding openings is simply "Don't screw up", meaning avoid traps and develop the pieces with sensible moves, mostly according to the opening principles. Your games against similar-rated opponents will normally not be decided out of the opening.

When begining to play chess, knowing (many) concrete variations and exact sequence of opening moves is not worth the time you invest learning them. If only because your opponent doesn't know them and will "ignorantly" lead you out of book rather quickly.

you can be good but not more!

I think it's possible to arrive to a 2200 FIDE level just with tactics and good endgame

Do you have to learn openings to be good?

Yes.

Yes.

And yes.

The catch is, they don't have to be "good" openings. I've seen too many openings go in and out of fashion with the super GM's over the years, to blindly take their word that any opening is inately unsound at the <2200 level.

Whatever opening you pick, you just have to know it.

And know the middlegames, which arise from it.

What about the Latvian Gambit?  I think it should be renamed the Cocky Gambit, just so the good people of Latvia wouldn't have such crap smear them.  How would we feel if 1.h4 was named the American opening?  Not very happy. 

2200 without any opening knowledge? Sorry guys but that is completly impossible. You cant get over 2000 Elo without opening theory because to get better you need to play and win against better opponents. And you will definetly never win against those players when you are already lost after the opening. You wont even reach the middlegame or the endgame! ( Or a very bad one).

I am rated over 2000 Fide and I know what I am talking about. Once I played against a Fide Master OTB and he had a completly lost position just because he had not enough plan about the opening he played. Its very easy to win those positions even against much stronger players. So dont tell me 2200 Elo is possible without studying the opening!

Agreed...with no opening knowledge, and just studying tactics.  Be happy with 1900

Idunno... If we're playing sicilians and benoni's in which every other move is breaking some chess rule then I can see things going south quickly. But what about simpler things like queen's gambit declined or some old king's pawn stuff?

I'm sure it's easy to be worse out of the opening but losing I'm not sure about. I think you're more likely to be outplayed in the middlegame. But I'm just thinking out loud here.

I went to 1800 otb pretty easily without ever really "learning" openings in a serious way. It was mostly middlegame planning & endings. Some tactical training sprinkled in. I'm now at an age where I don't really care to get stronger, may not even get better, just after I bought some openings books to try to get serious. Go figure.

 Note that I am far from a pro, but I would guess that since players are chosen random and nobody knows you, just playing the same opening over and over again should works since nobody have time preparing for you. I think it is different if you are in a club and everebody knows you are playing a certan opening every time 

What he said.

I find it interesting that everyone who has marked a barrier, has put it at +/- 300 of their own rating. And even more interesting that Carlsen hasn't dispelled that notion. 

You havs to be in a chess club to play OTB tournaments( at least in Germany). So everybody can prepare for you. A question : Is 1800 USCF the same as 1800 Fide?

generally USCF i believe is considered to be approx 100 points more than Fide. So 1800 USCF is approx 1700 Fide.

You HAVE to learn openings to improve and be a good decent player. Like many have pointed out you only need 2 for each colour. Like all decent well versed players (i am 1800CFC)I steer most of my games in the direction of openings i like. If i play a few moves that i dont normally play i end up in unknown territory very fast! I play the same openings against everything every game! If someone plays sicilian i play GPA, if someone plays Pe4 i play french etc. 
I play about 4-6 openings in 90% of my games all of which i have learned over years and played many times. I know the general theory and plans necessary in each one. Simple.

1800 USCF is about 1950 FIDE

You havs to be in a chess club to play OTB tournaments( at least in Germany). So everybody can prepare for you. A question : Is 1800 USCF the same as 1800 Fide?

There are probably more club tournaments than in other countries, but there are plenty of regular open tournaments in Germany. 

And you're going to have a hard time getting a good answer to the 1800 uscf vs 1800 fide question. Generally, uscf ratings tend to be higher than fide, but there are relitivley few fide rated tournaments in the United States, so you're going to have a bit of variability for lower rated fide players.