Learned Openings vs. Freestyle

The best thing is for you to study unconventional openings to gain a practical advantage from the start.

If your opponent plays the Sicilian, you can play 2. b3 or the Morra Gambit.

Even if your opponent has studied these openings, even if they have greater knowledge than you, you will be more accustomed to playing that variation than your opponent.

Do you understand what I mean? b3 or the Morra with d4 will only be encountered 1% of the time on the board, while you, with white, are playing those openings all the time.

You're watching the wrong type of openings training. You should learn opening PRINCIPLES, not theory, which are the sequence of moves players try to memorize so they can try to get an advantage from that. Opening principles are getting your pieces out fast off the back row, direct their influence towards the center, Castle early, control the center, etc. Don't memorize, understand ideas.

Learning an opening does NOT mean memorizing a sequence of moves. It means that you understand the reasons for each move. Then, if your opponent deviates from a learned sequence, you can figure out how to exploit their deviation.

Instead of memorizing moves, work on understanding the ways the pieces work together, along with the middlegame plans that can result.

I second DreamscapeHorizon. The biggest point of openings is they determine the character of the middle game. That doesn't normally change with small changes in moves. So look for what the opening is trying to do.

Yes, you make a point of your opponent counteracts. That's also what you should being learning: possible transposition. Playing for a Ruy and getting a Petrov. So ask the idea behind a Petrov.

Going full freestyle too early can work, but it’s kind of like trying to play jazz without knowing any chords yet.