What opening should I learn first?

I'be been doing a lot of tactics and puzzles on this application and others because it was suggested for a new comer to do so. Now I feel like I am comfortable enough in situations that require tactics and thinking to get past. My main problem right now is that I can no longer rely on the basic principles of openings (control centre, develop your pieces, castle etc). So my question to you all is as follows: what is a good, sound opening to study for white and for black? I'd prefer if the openings would help me improve as a player and increase my chess knowledge. another

1.e4 or 1.d4 as white. Often suggested are the queen's gambit and the Spanish.

And as black 1.e4 e5 and 1.d4 d5 and 1.c4 e5 and perhaps a reversed London setup against hypermodern stuff which is d5, Nf6, Bf5, e6, 0-0, h6, c6, Nbd7 (the move order is flexible).

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Having said that, it's still important to try and trust the opening principals and review your games to see how well you were following them. Common mistakes are wasting time with pawn moves like a3, a6, h3, h6 or trying to attack with only 2 or 3 minor pieces developed and the king hasn't castled.

I agree with stiggling.  When I ran a highly successful high school chess team/club, I always started the new players out with 1 e4 e5 or 2 d4 d5 because you can develop without falling behind while using opening principles.

In your case, if you want to learn an opening well, I suggest playing Rapid or slower games rather than Blitz.

I you are comfortable with opening principles, you can try for something that threatens your opponent relatively early or grabs space - players . As White, the Italian Game 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4 and advance (e5) variations against the French (1 e4 e6) and Caro-Kann (1 e4 c6).  Against the Sicilian I would play the open game (1 e4 c5 2 Nd3 e6/d6/Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 and then moves that defend the Q-side and attack the K-side.

As Black against 1 e4, I suggest the French Defense because a Q-side counterattack is built-into the opening beginning with an early ...c5 and it gives you Q-side attacking chances around which you can plan your middlegame.  Personally, I like the Caro-Kann better, but it often requires a more positional knowledge.

As Black against 1 d4, consider the Slav Defense 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 because it lets you develop your Bishop from c8 to f5 or g4 where you should be ok with trading it for a B or N, whereas the Queen's Gambit (2...e6) locks your Bishop in and 1000 level players often have trouble making that Bad Bishop useful.

Here are some reading possibilities that I often mention:
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf

My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/vincent-moret/

Opening Repertoire 1 e4

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7819.pdf

First Steps: 1 e4 e5

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7790.pdf

First Steps: Queen's Gambit

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7652.pdf

Tomorrow we have a FREE Webinar about one of the most confusing topics for chess lovers:✅What are the best openings? ✅

Take your seat here: chessmood.com/event/the-best-openings-to-startcontinue-your-chess-career

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627052905/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen175.pdf

Once you sort out e4-e5 and d4-d5 setups (in positional manner, see for example how Kramnik was doing it), may I advice You to start looking for more flexible things like Pirc, Sicilian, French, King Indian with lots of dynamic play where you might have lots of tactics and you need to calculate lots of things and still to take care about basic positional requirements.