Introspection on Tabyas, Database Utilization and Strategy Menus

     Before I start this( Though I started with random thoughts all over the place and added sentences here and there), I would like to thank you for reading my first post like this, and encourage discussion, correction and disagreement so that I and others can learn. 

     I am trying to understand chess in a way that's comfortable for me and allows the learning process to be more mentally organized. Ideally, my growth in my choice openings could be conceptualized into a tree (French) branch off into more specific branches( Winawer etc), sticks (Tabyas with many possibilities ), and finally, the leaves(That one Korchnoi game with the weird exchange sacrifice). This is where databases come into play, and it shocks me how rarely I hear of it in the U 1900 crowd.

The very same could be done with a database your games, but it feels woefully counter-intuitive digging through dirty score-sheets, and though I can do it here, it comes with a price that lands around the middle of my expense priorities.

Such databases allow you to see the top moves and when they were played, and for the most odd moves, by whom. From the below position, It is easy to have a few plans in mind. When getting to The below position, and scanning the most played moves....

I wouldn't follow the top move to make the most of my non-membership or to rush to the leaves. I would first ask

• What do you (I? Me?) want to play?
• How recently was this move played, and if it hasn't been in a while, then why?
• Are you familiar with these positions ( IQP, Closed, Pawn Sacrifice lines)?

Priming you with the insertion that black can and will get a rook on the c file, how can we seek a plan here?

8. 0-0  You could give the pawn for development and king safety

8. Bc2 , a matter-of-fact move, Protecting the pawn, but to what end? Let's see what other people thought...

     8...Nb4 Abandoning the assault on d4 for the bishop pair, the c file looks tasty for black, and a good continuation considering white could choose the hollow-feeling  9. Nc3 or go to extreme measure to , at the very least, CHOOSE how his Bishop will die. 9. 0-0 Nxc2 10. Qxc2 Rc8 11. Nc3 

Looking at the database I'm looking at, it's almost like white should know the main line and punish deviations and the absence of strategies. Less opportunities to 'go for it,' while black can get a rook to c4. f4-f5 ideas seem like a cop-out but other ideas aren't apparent, at this stopping point. I dare to say those who study chess seriously have to have a notepad they refer to. Do you have a notebook?

 I would hope that this would grow into a 'strategy menu,' of sorts, where we start with our ideal opening setups adhere to plans, and sidestep theory in favor of what needs to be (and has been) done in the position. 

     Once, I was able to find a game in a line which, due to the abundance of games prior and absence of top level games after, could have been the refutation to the line. A deep search for the diligent and titled, useless to most, but I wanted to go down the rabbit hole that time for my abandoned love, the French.

Tl;dr: How do you build the knowledge base of knowing what to play?