If you're playing an opening and your opponents don't make the book moves, then it is now a different opening. If the moves are not any opening you can find, then you're on your own
Noob Opening Question
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Hello, I have a question that's probably pretty dumb, but I don't get it. I've been playing Chess for a couple of months now, and I'm just starting to really study openings. Every Opening I read had the moves of white and black listed, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 and so on. What if I'm going for a Ruy Lopez, and black doesn't play the moves listed in the opening? Am I still playing a Ruy Lopez? Do I continue making the moves in the book? I'm just a little confused, the way some of the book's openings I read seem almost like black has to play e5 in response e4, but in the games I've played that's not always the case. So do I need to adapt to what my opponents doing or stick with my opening plan?