Memorising openings

Nowadays the wisdom is reversed.

You first play a game with some basic ideas (on the internet for example) and then you start studying. So you shoulda played it several times online before your otb encounter, right?

Although I have quite a good memory the capability to learn variations in advance is pretty poor. The only thing what really works - see above.

It sure is important to know in advance what kind of game you are looking for. However, feeling optimal during the game is even more important. It is not advised to be hungry, thirsty, sleepy or not easing yourself in the bathroom before the game. Any kind of aches are the last thing you want to experience during long over the board games, so treat yourself before the games accordingly!

If you have a total recall then learn all openings you wish. If your memory fails, play according to principles, develop, castle, etc.

I think it's important to have some kind of repertoire. I did my first OTB tournament since COVID back in January and even at the relatively low rating level I was playing at, most players were surprisingly booked up. You don't necessarily need to go super deep into theory, but even just having seen the types of plans your opponents are likely to play is going to make the opening a little less stressful for you.

Depending on the level but at your rating I think it's definitely useful..

I think that this quote gives the basic idea for learning about a specific opening:
"... The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)

In a nutshell, pick up what you can from quickly playing over some games (skipping a lot of the details). Then use your own games as a guide for where to learn more. I once wasted a lot of time, reading about the position after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 6 e3 e6 7 Bxc4 Bb4 8 O-O O-O 9 Qe2, only to realize (eventually) that the position never arose in any of my games.

"... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)

@TheKingClash said in #1:
> In preparation for OTB games longer than a 60 minute time control, how important do you think it is to memorise the lines of the openings you play, or do you think you just need a rough idea of the major plans?
There are much better things to do in live than to waste time on memorising openings