I was told to forget about studying openings, HELP!

You need to know openings before anything else.

The opening theory is the root of all evil in chess. People are even ready to completely kill the harmony of chess and play something like Fischer Random chess / 960 in order to kill that evil. Don't fall for it. Serious opening study below FIDE ELO 2000 is pointless and a scam by the opening literature industry (oh yes, there's an industry for that, check any chess book/software store, opening stuff is where they make the money).

I dont think openings are the root of all chess evil, but i do agree that beginners place way to much emphasis on openings.  Players that drop pieces, and miss basic tactics, but want to learn the Ruy, and Sicilian 20 moves deep???  Yes...opening books are the biggest waste of money.

Try my OSFM (one size fits most) blog on openings. It may not lead to the "best" lines, but allows you to reach middle game with some chances.

http://www.chess.com/blog/CaptGeorge/surviving-the-opening-as-white

Exactly!  The opening serves one purpose, to get to a playable middlegame.

I'm at the beginner/novice level and am a returnee after a 40 yr. absence from playing. I agree with iamsecond's opinion. I recommend concentrating on improving your tactical skill/vision until you hit at least 1200. Also, just play and play and play.Remember to have fun along the way, a principle that works on the chessboard as well as in life

I also agree with owltuna.learn the big opening principles and apply them skillfully but FLEXIBLY! Danny Rensch has a great video on YouTube about the 10 Opening Principles and a corresponding article that you can find on this website

I'm sure the late great author irving chernev's would concur

Lots of approaches are possible like lots of posters say.

Thinking is another approach whether it is move 2 or move 42.

Capt. George-I loved the OSFM article it's fine for me but I think it's probably too basic for an almost intermediate level player (which is NOT to say that it's not a fine article in and of itself )

Yes its basic, but it also covers what needs to be covered.  I know a guy thats USCF 2000 and doesnt study openings.  When he runs into something he doesnt know, he goes back to the opening principles. 

Im a USCF A player, and I dont study openings either.  When i run into something i dont know, back to the opening principles, and an understanding of pawn structures.

You should definitely prepare *something*, but don't go any deeper than ~10 moves - it's a waste of time and effort. As black, you only need two systems (a d4 system and an e4 system).

Your e4 system will usually either enter main lines or feature glaring inaccuracies from your opponent - if it's a main line, you're prepared....if it's inaccurate, you get a better position - YAY! Openings will reflect the future of the game, so, if you want a fight, pick ...e5, defend f7 like a maniac, and counterattack. If you want a slower game, try the French - it's a nice, humble (albeit cramped) position that is very hard to break down....and if they don't play d4 immediately, play c5 (Sicilian transposition) and punish them! If you'd like a complex game with a lot of different options, the Sicilian has everything....but everything is a lot of things, and it will take you a while to get used to the pits. 

Your d4 system should be ready to respond to the London first and foremost - in my experience, most "d4" players below 1400 go straight for the London, so if you slam ...Nf6 and hope for a Nimzo Indian, you're going to be disappointed. I play the Dutch which fights against anything, but very few people advocate the Dutch (moving the f pawn is a wee bit dangerous). 1...e6 (for easy transpositions) is a decent option, but you have to prepare more than one opening if you play that way (French, queen's Indian, and Nimzo). I would say 1...Nf6 with the Nimzo/QID against c4 and the KID setup against Bf4. 

Against hypermoderns, just grab the center and fill the long diagonals with as much junk as you can - most low rated people will get sick of it and trade a fianchetto bishop for your knight...after which you clear the diagonal and use it. Don't waste time on the grob, the Polish, and the junky, junky, junk - get the center, don't get mated, and you'll be fine.

White is more difficult and requires more study....with white, learn the defenses one at a time and don't change your opening move. Start with the classical response - you'll see it most often - and then expand to other things. Be slow about it - if you dump 40 lines into your head all at once, you'll just forget them or get them mixed and go down in flames screaming "DAMN YOU, SIMON WILLIAMS, WHY DIDN'T IT WORK!?!?" Just learn one thing you like against every defense and expand on it. If you get clobbered out of the opening, change something. 

Basically it works like this: A little opening theory (PLUS knowledge of principles) will help you grow a lot. A lot of opening theory will waste your time and do you no good.

I am not very good myself, however, I looked at the 3 games you have played on chess.com and from that limited perspective tactics, not opening theory, is where I would dedicate my efforts.

In the game you resigned after seven moves you did not deal with the threat posed by your opponent's sixth move.  That resulted in you resigning instead of playing on having lost the exchange and a pawn.  While being down after 7 moves may seem like a opening theory issue, it was actually a tactics issue.

In the game you lost in 19 moves you hung a piece four times, and hung a pawn twice.  Still as late as move 16 the game was roughly even.  

Thanks, David. Most of the articles, etc. here are for intermediate or higher players. So I decided to write something beginners to intermediate players could use. Just using the OSFM sytem should get most players into the 1300+ range pretty quickly.

Study openings, even as a beginner. Just don't get too carried away with memorization until your tastes and style coalesce.

David, I, too, started playing again after about 40 years. The tactics trainer is good here so use it to "shake out the rust." Also, I use the 10 min games here just to try out various openings, so that might help you, too. Good luck and have fun!

Hey. Even back in MY day, openings were said to be "not as important...". Pfeh. WE never had databases, opening explorer...but what we did have were Tournament games, biographical analyses of GM games etc.

It IS important to learn basic tactics, rudiamentary endgames, mating patterns, general opening principles. ..and fundamental positional play.

I'm guessing you could easily obtain material on each of those. What you cannot, is an Opening Repertoire. I'm sure of it.

I learned early on, that Openings encompasses the Totality of an Chess game. As some mentioned, you will not reach an positive middlegame with poor opening play...meaning, if you lose your way at the start of an game, how can you even get to an winning endgame?

Opening manuals, are to me, actual recorded documents of games played before...what path to follow...strategy & tactics to avoid. Studying great player's opening strategy can help you tremendously in deciding an Opening Repertoire!

Because, it will define your style of play. Like in Football (NFL or College).

Read Option

Spread Option

West Coast

Triple Option

Run-n-Shoot

And soo on.

Can you diggit? Heh. Cool.

8)

What is the OSFM system? I can't find any information about it and have never heard of it.

I hate the whole "Forget about studying openings" advice to newer players. My spin on that would be "Don't worry about the openings."

Certainly don't memorize lines out to 10+ moves. But it's not at all a bad thing to know the main variation of the classic openings to four or five moves and that's pretty easy.

Think of chess in the long term -- you'll be revisiting tactics, openings, middlegames, and endgames and back again for the rest of your life. You can't learn it all in one go.

My offbeat advice would be to get curious and read about the openings. Wiki has surprsisingly decent chapters on all the major openings. Just read the text portions like magazine articles and look at the defining positions.

In so doing you'll learn some of the basic principles of chess: control of the center, pawn formations, piece mobility, and, of course, tactics.