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What's so bad about learning openings in club level?

I've just started studying chess this year, and right around march or april ive only studied about openings. The opening stage has always fascinated me, and this seems unpopular but as I learn to understand the ideas in different openings, i am able to apply those ideas and principals in my game as a whole! This has worked for me as i started this year only around maybe 1600 classical on lichess or maybe 1100 on rapid in chess.com, and now im steadily improving at 2000 in classical.

If you ask the majority they would say don't study openings until you are at a certain rating and it has worked for them and in fact, if you are still blundering pieces at slow time controls then of course fix that first. But surprisingly, i still get that comment again and again even at my level wherein opening mistakes do get punished and i experience that! I would like to start a friendly debate about this topic, as you see im fairly new to this game and id like to see opinions and sides of different and stronger players =)
It's ok. You got to get into the game. Practicing is even more important so tons of Blitz games are needed. You have to learn where your pieces belong in the middle-game, typical motifs, typical endgames. So it is not only about memorizing lines, it is tons of praxis.
problem with studying openign a lot is that you dont get into those variations in the books. Most of your opponents dont know the openings. Obvisously you need an idea how you play in the opening but spending huge amount time on them will not help that much. I've player OTB games where opponent makes out-all-books in move five. Move ten starts to a tall order already. As you get stronger and you can punish for thos odd moves without memorizing a varation for every odd move then your opponents will start know the theory and studying opening becomes a must.

So i woudl say you need to study opening to situations you end up in your own games. By analysis more than looking up book/database what to do.
"id like to see opinions and sides of different and stronger players"
Kasparov: "A player should study openings after he becomes a grandmaster. From then on it uses up most of his time"

"But surprisingly, i still get that comment again and again even at my level wherein opening mistakes do get punished and i experience that! "
Take the white side of 1 e4 b5 or 1 e4 f5 or 1 d4 g5 and play it against Stockfish. Can you punish the opening mistake?

Opening study uses up a lot of time without reward.
Openings are to a large extent fashion.
Opening books often are plain wrong.
Opening study helps against the weak you would beat anyway, but does not help against the strong, where you need help.
Opening knowledge only postpones the moment where you have to think of your own.

There's always this hint to study endgames. In those modern times with short periods study some basics of the endgame, that should be enough. I would focus on openings and the ensuing middle-games. Because you will get them in almost every game. Tactical prowess and vision isn't bad either.

All those tips by the old masters are meant for otb tournament chess, 1-6 h games. And, most of them have been already obsolete when they have been stated ("Blitz is evil" and so on.)
@tpr i actually agree with a lot of those in the last part. I dont really mind using a lot of time with less reward as it is fun for me. But really, "...helps against the weak you would beat anyway, but does not help against the strong". The more i think about it, it really is true. My two highest rated opponents(who crushed me) games where i felt i was in good shape out of the opening but due to positional mistakes and unprincipled strategies, i got crushed pretty easily. I also noticed this back when I was studying the Najdorf. I can even recite a number of lines in the English or Poisoned Pawn, but really to not much result. Which is why I started playing less theoretical openings, where it made my games easier. I really like everything you said :D

@petri999 Yes i also learned about this recently which is why i changed the way I study openings. I first try and play it on my own without too much memorizing, just understanding concepts and ideas. Afterwards, I analyze my game, check where i went wrong or where i had trouble in. Only then do I memorize that situation :D
@Sarg0n Yeah tbh i didnt really get it either. Some people told me that if i had only one book, it should be an endgame book, which to me didnt seem really helpful. I rarely get to an endgame, and more often than not I only get to an endgame that I know how to play. If I don't know how to play it then i'll be looking for the move otb but really I don't even remember this happening.
Learning the endgame first but never reaching a promising endgame lacking opening skills is some sort of catch-22.

(One should know some basics like queening a pawn, mating sequences and stuff. Good enough.)
#8
Do you know how to win a 5 vs. 4 rook ending? Do you know how to draw a 4 vs. 3 rook ending? If not then be assured that you will not be able to find it over the board, even with a lot of time on the clock, even less so in a short time control. Do you even know that one is a win and the other is a draw? If not then you are clueless in the middle game. Knowledge of this allows you to win with an extra pawn and to draw when a pawn down.

"The opening is to prepare the middle game, the middle game is to prepare the opening" - Capablanca
Endgame knowledge hints you about what to do and what to avoid in the middle game and in the opening.

Do you know how to checkmate with BB, with BN, with NN vs. p? Even if it never happens, it teaches you something about the value of the pieces and makes you think twice before playing BxN in the opening. It also teaches you the worth of the knight in the center and thus about the center and thus about the opening.
Assume you play a good game, you win material, but your opponent finds a way to simplify to KBN vs. K. Can you win it or will you have to settle for a draw?
"A beginner should not be allowed to play a game until he can checkmate with KBN vs. K" - Capablanca

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