What rating can you comfortably reach without touching openings?

I want to get back into chess for casual play but one thing that always bugged me was the memorization. So I wonder, what rating can one comfortably (ie. not be demolished by an opening you don't know..) reach without ever touching an opening book?  Of course I know some basic opening theory and have a certain style (I like closed openings) but other than knowing a few 5-move deep lines, I'd rather not start memorizing lines.

With opening principles only, 1700 OTB I'd say.

My worry though is that even when playing players my level, I sometimes encountered weird opening systems that I had no idea how to counter. What to do in these situations?

Your question does not compute. The answer will be different for everyone depending on their native ability. I'd recommend you study basic opening principles and start looking up specific openings if you become interested in them. And don't just memorize lines out of opening books but play over Master games with your selected opening and maybe read a book entitled "Understanding the FD" or SD or whatever instead of the latest and greatest analysis.

BTW if you're adverse to studying openings I highly recommend you start studying basic chess endings such as all the basic mates, the Lucena Position, the Philidor position etc and R+P endings which are by far the most common, along with all sorts of basic K+P endings. GOOD LUCK!

CHESS OPENING PRINCIPLES by SIX FAMOUS GRANDMASTERS

Lasker's rules for the opening (from Common Sense In Chess)

1. Do not move any pawns in the opening of a game but the King and Queen pawns.

2. Do not move any piece twice in the opening, but put it at once on the right square.

3. Bring out your knights before developing your bishops, especially the Queen's Bishop.

4. Do not pin the adverse King Knight (ie. by Bg5) before your opponent has castled

GM Reuben Fine on the opening:

1. In the initial position White, because of the extra move, has a slight advantage. Consequently:

2. White's problem in the opening is to secure the better position, while...

3. Black's problem is to secure equality.

Fine's rules for the opening

1. Open with either the e-pawn or the d-pawn.

2. Wherever possible, make a good developing move which threatens something or adds to the pressure on the centre.

3. Develop knights before bishops.

4. Pick the most suitable square for a piece and develop it there once and for all.

5. Make one or two pawn moves in the opening, not more.

6. Do not bring your queen out too early. 7. Castle as soon as possible, preferably on the king's side.

8. Play to get control of the centre. 9. Always try to maintain at least one pawn in the centre.

10. Do not sacrifice without a clear and adequate reason, eg.:

* it secures a tangible advantage in development * it deflects the opponent's queen

* it prevents the opponent from castling * it enables a strong attack to be developed

Fine's two last questions to be asked before a move is made:

* How does it affect the centre? * How does it fit in with the development of my other pieces and pawns?

Nimzovitch's Seven Axioms (from My System)

* Development is to be understood as the strategic advance of the troops toward the frontier line (the line between the fourth and fifth ranks).

* A pawn move must not in itself be regarded as a devloping move, but merely as an aid to development.

* To be ahead in development is the ideal to be aimed for.

* Exchange with resulting gain of tempo.

* Liquidation, with consequent development or disembarrassment.

* The pawn centre must be mobile.

* There is no time for pawn hunting in the opening, except for centre pawns.

Suetin's four principles for advanced players

* The fight for control of the centre * The striving for the quickest and most active development.

* The creation of conditions that permit early castling.

* The formation of an advantageous pawn structure

GM Hort's 13 rules for all players

* Take advantage of every tempo. * Develop flexibly!

* Do not make pawn moves without careful planning.

* Begin the game with a centre pawn, and develop the minor pieces so that they influence the centre.

* Develop harmoniously! Play with all your pieces

* Do not make aimless moves. Each move must be part of a definite plan.

* Do not be eager for material gain. The fight for time is much more important than the fight for material, especially in open positions.

* A weakening of your own pawns may be accepted only if it is compensated by a more active placement of your pieces.

* With the help of your pawns, try to get an advantage in space and weaken your opponent's pawn position.

* Do not obstruct your pawns by grouping your pieces directly in front of them; pawns and pieces must work together.

* During the first few moves, pay special attention to the vulnerable KB2 square on both sides.

* Remember that the poor placement of even a single piece may destroy the coordination of the other pieces.

* With White, exploit the advantage of having the first move and try to gain the initiative. With Black, try to organize counterplay.

GM Portisch on forming a repertoire:

"Your only task in the opening is to reach a playable middlegame."

SOURCE: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/ten-rules-opening

Use basic opening principles and think : you should be able to find a good move. Mind to give an example ?

Well I remember I once played an opponent who set up his pawns something like this, and it was pretty much impossible to make any useful moves, very frustrating.

Ok, but this is not an opening challenge. You just put pawns in the center and develop pieces here (ie. e5/c5/Nc6), and then, it's a game

A friend of mine reached ~2100 FIDE without knowing the names of many openings, and without using any opening books or databases. He did always play the same things (QGD and Caro Kann as black, 1.e4, 2.c3 against the Sicilian) and of course he had figured out some ideas of his own by then. His strengths are strategy and endgames, and he just doesn't make tactical blunders.

Since then he started working on his openings (and the rest of his chess) and got to ~2250 I think.

There is also an FM at my club whose rating hovered around 2250 for years, then he started to decide his first move at random, by rolling a pair of dice before the game. So he constantly had to play stuff like 1...f6, 1.c3, etc. He did that for a couple of years and his rating was still hovering around 2250, has since quit and still no difference to his rating. I do think he simply loves to play Pirc/Modern/Hippo type of stuff.

Figure out a good move. Invent a plan. Play chess.

Quite a brilliant selection of principles, Nimzoroy! Thanks for sharing!

@Hydroxide: there is no concrete number. Some people might get stuck at 1300 and others at 1700 depending on their understanding of different elements in the game and inherent intelligence. But I think everyone will agree that learning book lines for a few openings is crucial for improvement. Book lines are the best options, so why not get familiar with them?  It really shouldn't be memorization in my opinion, since there should be an understanding of why you're making each of your moves. "Memorization" just makes it sound like you're playing with your eyes closed according to some book while watchin the tele. I really like GM Portisch's note that the whole point of the opening is to get a playable middle game.  When I get crushed in an opening, I'll take the time to look it up so it doesn't happen again; a learn-as-you-go approach is fine for me.  I got destroyed by the Traxler counterattack to my Fried Liver attack once for example.  Knowledge of book lines would have prevented it, but I think it was more informative to get wrecked by it firsthand and then do some research.  There's always room for improvement though, book lines or not. Best of luck!

The happy answer is you can become very very good without studying openings... but the downer is you will have to study something if you want to improve

Lots of people get on these forums asking how they can improve, what methods and strategies?!  The answer is simple, play as much as you can (a few games a week, at least 2 days a week is plenty) and read a chess book cover to cover.  If you still want to improve, get another book etc.

If you want a number, I'd guess at least IM without knowing openings, probably weak GM level though.  Of course this would never happen in practice, but gives you an idea how important memorizing openings are.

A friend of mine who is rate 2400 ( stellaoctangula) on here recommends using an opening that develops the same for white and black, and don't change your opening alot. Here is an example of what he uses as white and black.. These openings are related to the Pirc, Philidor, and Old Indian.

It really depends what you've done with your pawns but...

Black should notice the d4 square is called a "hole" is white's position (no pawn can protect it) and can be a great place for a knight.

You have standard pawn breaks on b5 and f5.  This means you play a pawn to b5 or f5 with the idea of opening lines (like files) for your pieces when either of you plays a pawn capture.

Or if you hate that pawn structure you can play to break it up immediately with opening moves that involve c6 and d5.

I'm a firm believer in the idea that one's progress in chess below the ~2200 level is largely about one's lowest areas of understanding, and that above the ~2200 level it's about one's greatest areas of understanding. 2200 is an arbitrary number, of course, but the general idea in my brain is that getting to the point of being able to compete for a title is all about being an all-around adequate chess player without (relative) glaring weaknesses. 

One can be a tactical genius, but if you're pieces are consistently developed passively, your pawn structure is horrible, and you make every other positional mistake you can think of, then you'll rarely be in a position to use your tactical prowess. Likewise, if you've got a great positional eye, but you can't find the tactics that flow from those positional trumps, then you'll not win many games either. 

The opening is an area where some level of study is always useful. But I don't think it needs to be a huge focus. Pick an opening for white and stick with it. Pick one d4 and one e4 response for black and stick with them. And then just use your own games to expand your knowledge of the opening by looking up critical lines and example games as part of analyzing your serious games.

Now, I'll grant that I'm a 1400 player right now (hopefully on my way to more) and I don't focus on openings. But I don't ignore them either. I just know what I play, and the basic ideas behind the resulting positions, and I expand my knowledge as I play rather than study stuff I'll never see on the board.

At my club I play with folks ranging from 2200 down to 1600 every week. Doing the above, as well as working on tactics, Silman's "reassess" texts, and endgames. Doing that I've started to get to the point where I'm sometimes better coming out of the opening, and against most players generally equal (not always of course, I still screw things up but as I study this way I gain more insight to the general ideas of the openings I play and can better adjust to moves I've not seen before). I still have to win the games, and I'm not always doing that. But without specifically studying the opening, I've gotten to the point where I can play the opening well enough to let my other weaknesses shine through.

I expect that at some point focused study of the opening becomes essential. But from what I've seen at the local level, that doesn't appear to be something that happens under the expert level.   

My personal experience is that I didnt have to get very serious about openings until I reached 1800 ( A class ) and that was because when I did reach 1800 I was forced to play in the Open sections of most US tournies and was one of the weakest players in the Open sections since they were for 1800 and above .... back when I was in the 1800s. Not knowing my openings very well/deep was ok against my fellow A class players and below but against players over 2000 I was torn to pieces !  So..... I had to study openings more seriously when thrown to the wolves ! However , since I have noticed many US tournies have come to resemble class tournies this may no longer be the case and you might put off opening study even later than A class .  I don't know. I do believe however that once you face players over 2000 consistently you will be slaughtered if you dont know the openings you play very well/deep . This is even more true against 2200s and above.... I know from experience . 

>4. Do not pin the adverse King Knight (ie. by Bg5) before your opponent has castled

This is one I have not seen.  Can anyone explain the reasoning?  Thanks.

Even when I was still playing at the clubs, people rarely seemed to play the book lines for more than five moves at all. In a way, I could have probably just as well stopped reading opening books. But then again, studying openings can be so much fun! I think one has to just make sure that one does not invest too much time into them, neglecting other areas like tactics and endgame. Maybe 25% max would be ok. Anyway, I think knowing the openings you try to play is even useful if opponents go out of book early. In such a situation I always think about why that particular move is not even mentioned in the opening books. It should be inferior, but why is that? Thinking about this often gives me good ideas/plans, thereby deepening my understanding of the openings - even if I didn't get to play them (as paradoxical as that may sound).   

At 1800 level in blitz, I still play people who suck at openings and beat me with superior tactic skills. I feel winning the first 15 moves, and then I end up with nothing, I am frustated, I start playing dubious moves and they punish me right away.

The trick is that even without opening knowledge, you can get pretty well out of it. All you need is to get out of the line without falling in a trap or taking too big a disadvantage. I think you can get very high with only the principles, I would say around 2000.

I guess you should start really needing a somewhat detailed opening preparation around 2000, and you will probably start benefiting from it already at 1800. However there are some remarkable examples of very talented players playing with little on no opening theory up to a professional level.

An extreme example of the relative (un)importance of openings: A famous shogi player(aka japanese chess, likely an ancient relative of occidental chess; i'm sorry but i can't recall the player's name right now) once played in a strong chess open tournament. He had scarce opening and engame knowledge, and in fact he lost a couple of games during the tournament in well known theoretically drawn endings.

As a result he ended the tournament "only" with a provisorial 2400+ rating and an IM norn. With a better endgame knowledge he would have got an higher rating, so maybe we can say that 2500 is the limit for a player not knowing openings ?

Of course this is an extreme example, since a top shogi player is probably bound to have a 2700+ like tactical strenght (tactics in shogi are even more wild and complex than in "our" chess)compensating for the weaknesses in other aspects of the game, but still interesting.

And what about the legendary  Mir Sultan Khan ? He came out of nowhere opening the game with stuff like (as black) 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 e6? 4.Nf3 c5(wow! a french defence a full tempo down ). He mainly played stonewall systems as white and black to avoid opening disasters. His opening knowledge was borderline non-existent. Still he defeated almost all the top players of the time (Flohr, Tartakower, Marshall,Colle,Rubenstein, and even Capablanca!) with the exception of Alekhine. According to one of those systems which calculate an elo rating for players active before elo ratings were introduced, he peaked around 2650 elo, number 6 in the world at the time.

1600ish OTB and thats if your really really good. I saw this question asked before on a more professional level and the new average without openings is reaching 1100ish or slightly below (Class E) before the 1980's it was 900 or so (Class F)