How many opening moves can/should you remember?

I always wondered about this also. I have read that some GMs do quit well with just 1 white opening. Then know a few Black openings. Do you really memorize all of white and blacks moves for your system? Or do you just know what the main structure looks like for your opening?

  I am just returning to Competitive otb chess after a 12 year lay off and will basicly be using what i used then. 1 white opening that I have studied to about move 12. The main problem starting out is alot of your opponents wont know your opening well or at all. They wont follow book at all. So just go for the structure of what your opening is. Unless this is totally wrong? hehe

As for black I know one def to e4 and d4 that i have studied to about move 8 also. I dont 100% know blacks reply to moves past about 5 or so tho for black. I just am going with the feel. I mean I have been studing the Najdorf .It seems amazing that some GMs would have every possible move for every variation to like move 20. I guess if its your job you would. But still seems amazing.

I am lower rated tho so I have been spending more time on tactics and endgame then openings tho. Since i figure at my level alot of players have very limited opening play. My old rating 12 years ago was 946.

Mikhail Botvinnik once stated that two or three opening systems for White and as many for Black is enough for most players; top-rated or otherwise. Of course, it is good to know more openings in order to know how to play against them, but they are not neccesarily to be memorized and known by heart. I myself try to concentrate on mastering only a few systems for both colors in order to get better at those specific openings.

Opening theory is always changing, so it's virtually impossible to memorize all of them. I advise you to follow Botvinnik's advice. You might find it to be more effective.

Basically I'm trying to get a basic understanding of an e4 and d4 opening as white, and a defense to answer e4 and d4 openings.  But mostly I just try to develop pieces and set myself up without too many weaknesses.  I can't memorize or remember all the sub-variations and such.

To know enough to recognize almost all the openings (just a couple moves deep) is not overkill. You ought to know a Ruy Lopez or King's Gambit or Dutch Defense when you see it.

Study Opening principles. Spend time trying to make them work for you in your games. Don't waste hour after hour memorizing moves as a means of being a better player or getting significantly better results. The cost/benefit ratio of hours spent/points won with opening study is pretty low compared to time spent on tactics or even endgames.

You can really jump into a black hole with opening study. You'll never be finished and always studying, and then after the opening phase of your games you and your opponent will make several mistakes that will determine who wins.

Know enough to get a good start though. The better you are the more likely you are to need to know variations within your openings.

The only parts of my game that I blunder badly at is the middle game and the endgame, if you use basic opening principles most book moves will seem logical and  or natural.

If only that were true in reality..

None.

Don't play openings, play chess. :)

For live chess, i've heard people recommend to only learn the very basic tabiya for the openings you want to play, and increase your knowledge of theory by looking up every game you play in something like MCO to go deeper and deeper in the lines you actually encounter.

For CC, you can always play very theoretically, due to the fact that opening books and databases are allowed.

I've learned most of my openings this way

in my opinion  the game has nothing to do with ur opening it has everything to do with skill.... you could play the worst opening and still win and the oppenent could play the best opening and lose so really it has nothing to do with your opening its how you play with wat u got and the time u got it

I agree with you. It's more about skill than knowledge. But knowledge helps you to make the most out of your skills.

got me thinking of how many openings i know hos to play well. (i'm talkign about different positions that leave a different mark on the game in the long run, stuff... [aqwn structor, pieces in the game...)

so, maybe almost 0.65 of an opening.

got you thinking huh...

For as many openings as you should know, I think you have to know all the common openings and variants (as you will be facing them the most) - but choose a few openings that suit your game, or that you play well, and learn them deeper than you do the other openings.

Personally, I know the basic openings a few moves in, but I admit that I am sometimes throw off by moves not 'in the book' to much to learn openings too deeply. I tend to develop following various rules like: 'control the centre' and 'knights and bishops out early'.

For the second time,as has been re iterated by some people, you should not memorise openings as such you should understand the principles and be able to apply them.

And, in fact, ALL the chess experts claim your time is much better spent on learning 1. End game   2. Tactics  3. strategy. Up to IM level anyway!

how did you  learn openings? are there any methods?

http://gorgonian.weebly.com/home/studying-openings

http://www.chess.com/blog/pawpatrol/learning-openings-thoroughly-with-lucas-chess

International Master Greg Shahade on the value of studying openings:

https://www.uschess.org/content/view/11692/665

My opening repertoire has around 2000 unique positions in it for white and 2000 more for black.  That is my repertoire that has exactly one choice response for me in each position.  I don't have for instance, both a scotch game and a ruy lopez in my main repertoire.  I have made one choice for each position.   I don't quite have it completely memorized, but I'm working on it all the time.  And, of course, memorizing includes understanding before anyone jumps on that silly horse.  I don't see how anyone can recommend one without the other (what's the point of understanding something if you don't even remember it?).

That particular blog has moved from Gorgonian-Weebly to Blogspot, under "OMG Chess" or omgchess.blogspot.com. However, it looks to me like the original page "/home/studying-openings" isn't around any more. When you search that blog for the PHRASE "studying openings" you get several worthwhile hits:

http://omgchess.blogspot.com/search?q=studying+openings

18-20 moves is the average depth I memorize.