How long does it take to learn an opening.

I have tried to learn them.  It takes much longer than I expected.  The lessons are good, but players make different moves and I have to study more.

How long does it take most people?

It takes a lifetime and even then...
Just one opening is a full time job.
Chess is a game.
Just play and analyse your lost games so as to learn from your mistakes.

it depends.

1) how complex is your opening? If it is something like french defence, it takes like 10 minutes to learn how to use it. If it is something like najdorf, you need a ton of time to learn how to play it AND what to do if they don't enter open sicilian

2) how much do you study

3) the quality of your study(you should learn ideas and individual missions of the pieces rather than just remembering the moves).

It takes usually like 20-30 minutes to get the starting knowledge to play the opening(the brief overview of lines) and THEN, after you gained experience, you improve in certain lines

It mostly depends on what the guy means by "learning an opening". It's very unclear.

since the guy is 700, i think in he means "know it enough to play it confidently with some success"

My teacher likes newer players staying with the same opening basics bullet points evrybody knows. Maybe plus a survival kit for first couple of moves against patzer traps like Wayward Queen. We worry about practicing endgame patterns til im sick of looking at them. Its suppose to be way more important than geeking out over countless opening lines. Openings take care of themself if u just survive them.

Forever.........

This would still be extremely unclear, especially given that "confidently" is subjective by definition. Not to mention "with some success".

On the other hand, I am certain the guy thinks that "learning an opening" is some finite and well defined thingy.

Exactly magipi, the time to learn an opening is all your life, but basically at the begining don t expend much time studing this, better is go for practice It, learn general principles and basic tactics, when you feel the progress you can go a bit deeply in the openings

Some kind person sent me something to help me! I studied half of it--Great Help! I went to read the other half and it was all gone.

If you could send again, I would be most grateful.

Anyway, Thanks.

I have gotten to the question I am really trying to ask.

Say, I open w/white. The Italian. I want to have a plan for the middle game. I want to have moves that I set up with the knowledge that the middle game will be me having a Q, B, R, or another assortment of pieces because they flow with the correct responses to the opening. Just like in the opening, I would specifically be prepared having studied for good moves and errors.

Maybe I could learn that I'm better with a Q,B,R or R,R,J,Q and practice being familiar with how I would attack with those pieces. I understand that's not going to be exact. But if I am ahead with those pieces, I need study in how these work together.

If I can do that, I could increase my success whenever in that situation.

It takes a while just to learn how to move the pieces. Some people can see a Knight and see immediately the squares it can land to attack in one. Some can see a Knight and know exactly how to move it from a-b-c-d-e. I have to use my fingers to line up three moves.

@12

"I want to have a plan for the middle game."

++ Study grandmaster games with it.

I bet a super gm is saying he is still learning different ideas on certain openings.

It doesn't take a SuperGM to say that. I have played the French for 28 years and still learn new ideas. Obviously a "New Idea" to a 28-year veteran is far deeper into the theoretical lines, looking for that move 14 novelty, unlike a beginner who is learning why 3...c5 is important in the Advance Variation.

I don't know for how many years you are studying trolling, but you are still far from mastering it.

It depends on how good you want to get good at it. The more you practice, the better you become. If you work really hard, it might take 1-3 days.

It depends on how you learn the openings if it's hard or easy to memorize and execute the openings