"I never commit to memory anything that can easily be looked up in a book."
- Albert Einstein -
Everything is depends on your target. If you just wanna play as long you know what the next best move is, then practice make perfect :) But if you want to be a good player (maybe GM) with high rating, you should learn the opening theory.
As for me is everything that suit me, as long i enjoy it.
I'd like to thank everybody who posted their advice and encouragement. Below is a compilation of your ideas that I've decided to use as guidelines.
Opening knowledge is acquired from 3 sources:
- master games
- my own games by comparing to database and understanding deviation vs main line
- occasionally opening books and databases
Otherwise:
- no forced memorization
- no booking up before a game - you know what you know
- no sharp variations that require good preparation
- no narrow systems. On the contrary – try to play more openings and variations (if not OTB then at least over internet)
There are far too many chess players who never played before computers and databases that they are yet boys and will be, forever, such.
Easy...I want easy. It's too hard. I don't like this. I don't like that.
Maybe you should just get everything you want without earning it. Go live in Greece.
I'm sorry to say that but your conclusions are wrong.You can't aquire opening knowledge ( or any other knowledge) from databases.Databases are good for only one thing, find games.Nothing else , they are not a study tool , they never were.Completely ignore the numbers they give , they are often very misleading.
Opening knowledge is aquired either from books ,from persons from games and from analysis of your games.
"Read , ask , play , analyse" is the best method.
Also wrong is to try to play a lot of different openings and lines.Focus on few and set a target to learn them as best as you can.When you feel that you know them very well, add a line against the most critical(according to you) or the most played(again acording to you) variation.The only "database" you need to study carefully , is you.
........and if you feel like talking to people that don't feel , don't understand and don't know a thing about what is happening around them , go live in Norway.
Turn-based play is for wussy boys. It's like sucking on a lollipop all day long and living in Greece and throwing rocks at police. All the same.
There are far too many chess players who never played before computers and databases that they are yet boys and will be, forever, such.
Easy...I want easy. It's too hard. I don't like this. I don't like that.
Maybe you should just get everything you want without earning it. Go live in Greece.
And there are a few chess players (and even non-chess players) that understand that there are three phases to a game but don't understand there are multiple levels to the types of people that play chess.
Each player will go as far as they are able in each phase in the game. Regardless of what you say, there are those that are specialists in the opening or endgame or tactics/puzzles. Sometimes, players neglect one area of the game but still can do very well. Not everyone is trying to become the world champion and thus they don't have to become experts in any phase to still enjoy it and play well.
I have read anecdotal stories of players that break 2000 without studying openings and some that do it mostly by studying openings. There isn't just one path playing well or enjoying the chess that is played.
There are far too many chess players who never played before computers and databases that they are yet boys and will be, forever, such.
Easy...I want easy. It's too hard. I don't like this. I don't like that.
Maybe you should just get everything you want without earning it. Go live in Greece.
I thought we are talking about a GAME played in our FREE time as a HOBBY. Probably you are on the wrong forum preaching that everything in life should be gained by hard work and pain.
There are far too many chess players who never played before computers and databases that they are yet boys and will be, forever, such.
Easy...I want easy. It's too hard. I don't like this. I don't like that.
Maybe you should just get everything you want without earning it. Go live in Greece.
I thought we are talking about a GAME played in our FREE time as a HOBBY. Probably you are on the wrong forum preaching that everything in life should be gain by hard work and pain.
Totally agree !!
Turn-based play is for wussy boys. It's like sucking on a lollipop all day long and living in Greece and throwing rocks at police. All the same.
Could you stop insulting people and nations ? 
Thank you.
opening theory is very important. if you don't know the 1st best moves and how to cover your weaknesses youre usually lost in this day of chess. for example ive won countless games by exploiting the weak d6 square and if you dont move a3 the knight among other peices can penetrate the enemy camp. my suggestion is to get a good opening book. hers an example this guy was rated near 1800
dont be fooled by my rating. its caused by countless timeouts rather than a losing position. my uscf was 1970
I thought we are talking about a GAME played in our FREE time as a HOBBY. Probably you are on the wrong forum preaching that everything in life should be gained by hard work and pain.
No, silly. I never said any such thing. I tried to convey that anything worthwhile takes effort.
And to someone else who posted, yes, I should not mention a nation that may foster laziness. There is not just one place but too many to count.
speak for yourself i havent put in any effort in my chess abilities. alli can say is either you have it or you dont. i dont study opening theory because i have talent. either you have it or you dont if you dont then yes it takes effort.
Here is my problem - I have rather poor memory. And opening is where you need to memorize the most. I love all the aspects of chess except for opening theory which I find boring and uninspiring.
Yesterday I made just another attempt to refine my d4 repertoire for an OTB game I have to play tomorrow and after 15 minutes I was fed up and bored to death. I feel like abandoning any further attempts. I was just wondering what will it mean in terms of future progress. I know like 3-5 moves in most of the openings and the rest I play by general principles. In OTB game it does cost me some extra time to find the reasonable moves but till now it never led to big disadvantage in the opening.
I am 1644 OTB, study tactics, endgames, strategy, master games (which gives some indirect exposure to various openings by the way). Do you think it's reasonable not to learn opening at all and only do what I really enjoy?
Get used to it. However, though it's generally better to understand [particular] openings rather than via [others'] rote, 'memorization' of an opening repertoire (and/or theoretical novelty) through one's own thoroughly worked-out efforts before the big game should prove altogether pointless, once commenced over the board against an opponent. With the new idea/weapon at your disposal, you will only naturally thus know which [best] move/reply to play. It's that simple. Work on it.
...i havent put in any effort in my chess abilities...
Yes, and it shows.
Ouch!
I'm sorry to say that but your conclusions are wrong.You can't aquire opening knowledge ( or any other knowledge) from databases.Databases are good for only one thing, find games.Nothing else , they are not a study tool , they never were.Completely ignore the numbers they give , they are often very misleading.
Opening knowledge is aquired either from books ,from persons from games and from analysis of your games.
"Read , ask , play , analyse" is the best method.
Also wrong is to try to play a lot of different openings and lines.Focus on few and set a target to learn them as best as you can.When you feel that you know them very well, add a line against the most critical(according to you) or the most played(again acording to you) variation.The only "database" you need to study carefully , is you.
I don't quite agree. Databases give you opening theory in most concentrated and digestable form. For any given position you can learn 2-3 most common moves and it's so easy to compare it to a game you've just finished. Of course one still have to understand what's the idea behind each move but in most cases I am able to figure in out. And if not I can try to find it in a book but there are not so many books that explain ideas well.
As for wide vs narrow repertoire it's a question of fun vs progress (at least for me). So it's always a compromise. I used to play Sicilian Dragon and enjoyed it a lot but lost too many games because its dynamic nature didn't fit me very well. So I switched to French. But I don't want to limit myself to French only - I'd like to play other things too, just for pleasure. And I hope to start playing e4 in addition to my usual d4. You are right of course - focusing on just few variations will give better results. But I am ready to sucrifice some of my progress for the sheer fun of game.
Yep according to databases, "Fun" always scores well, so go for it!!!
To the OP...a peace offering.
I suspect that you may already know the 10 most common openings. But, here they are.
IMO, it isn't necessary to remember the names but just the concepts. Too, there are many subset variations. Probably, since this would take effort to learn...don't fret about them.
Anyway: http://chess.about.com/od/openings/tp/TopOpenings.htm
P.S.: And, no...I'm not being condescending. This is simply a peace offering.
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The night before my second OTB tournament, I became obsessed with the idea that I had no preparation for 1 d4. I stayed up half the night trying to learn the Orthodox QGD. I got to the tournament, bleary-eyed, and had Black for Round 1. The guy played: 1 f4
I learned a valuable lesson: sleep is better than booking up the night before you play. By the night before play, you know what you know. Go with it. Also, no matter what you do, someone will play something new to you, and you are going to have to play chess, and figure out what is going on.