Heck, I've been learning English for 16 years, and I still don't get everything right (and it's the only language I know).

************************************************** *********

Memorization does not get you anywhere. If your opponent does not play your opening, you will not know what to do. Also, at the end of your supposed 'memorized lines', you will not know what the correct moves are afterwards, and you will be lost in the forest of the middlegame.

Case in point. You opponent is trying to get you out of your book opening and into unfamiliar territory.

The answer is to learn how to make good moves. . . Fortunately, this is easily taught.

Read The Search for Chess Perfection II by Purdy, then How to Reassess your Chess by Silman and finally Excelling at Chess by Aagaard

These should be read in the order shown.

While not a strong player, I always get a good opening position by simply applying a dozen rules. True, I frequently get lost in the middlegame but I am slowly improving.

Now find an opening that you might be comfortable with and apply the rules they teach.

Trying to memorize openings will generally get you into trouble as a beginner for many of the reasons already stated.

Your time would be far better spent studying the main opening principles:

1. Control the center of the board
   Only move each piece once
   Develop the center pawns then knights and then your bishops
   Castle as soon as possible

Don't get tempted into any early confrontations, unless they are out and out errors on the part of your opponent.

Also, try to ensure that no piece you move in the opening is unprotected (with the exception of the first 2-3 moves).

Then spend your study time on the Endgame, learn the classic endgames, so that when you get to this point you'll know what to do without thinking. This way you will win far more games against other beginners that have not.

One thing I don't think anyone here has said, and I think it is very important, is that understanding an opening largely comes down to two things:

i) Understanding the basic ideas behind the opening you are learning
ii) Understanding move order nuances.

For this second part, it's extremely helpful to keep in mind what your opponent is threatening and what he isn't to figure out which move order is best.

Assuming you already know the basic ideas behind your opening, you should be able to enumerate what basic tactics your opponent can use to throw a spanner in your plans. Basically, figure out what things you want to avoid and you can generally determine the right move order by looking at what your opponent's move order has allowed him to do and what it hasn't.

An example where I have done this for the very beginning of the Colle-Zukertort can be found HERE.

I would recommend buying any of Matthew Sadler's books [The Slav, the semi-slav, or the QGD] and just read through it to get a feel for the appreciation of move order. He is an excellent author in general and understands the importance of move order.

-David

Years ago I had an amusing incident against an opponent rated mid-1600’s. I was White in a Najdorf Sicilian and it took me about 90 min. to play 21 moves whereas my opponent used less than 10. After my 22nd move he thought for about 20 minutes then played a move so bad he resigned 3 moves later.

In the PM I was truly amazed at his knowledge of the “book” moves. When we got to my 22nd move, the conversation went something like this:

Him: “That was a really bad move.”
Me: “Why?”
Him: “It’s not what Fischer played.”
Me: “But why was it so bad?”
Him: “It’s not what Fischer played, so it has to be bad.”
Me: “But if it was that bad, why did you have to resign 3 moves later?”
Him: “I (expletive deleted) up.”

I think there’s a moral in there somewhere.

That's a pretty common situation with players who rely on memorization: the moment they're thrown on their own devices, they fail miserably.

As I've said before, and I'm sure I'll say again: it matters for more that you know what to do when you run out of preparation than it matters when you run out of preparation.

Those guys only win games when their opponents make the same mistake, or when an unprepared opponent falls into a trap.

This is why as a beginner I have given up on openings. At this point, I am able to recognize the general ones like Siclian, Caro Kahn, French and Alekhine. However, that doesn't do me any good. Maybe when I become more proficient at the game openings will help. Development seems to be the key at this point.

LOL, Jackson, you are 100% correct. On the chess site I work for, there are some mid-level players that will POUND out a complicated opening in seconds, and then literally two moves into where they have to think, pieces start dropping.

The trick to this is to learn the IDEAS of the opening, not necessarily every line; leave that to the GMs who make a living at it. Every opening has a different flavor, and differnet probable endgame setups. Knowing what the themes are and what kind of endgame you are comfortable with can help greatly.

Also, while it is nice to learn a few traps and zaps inherent to the opening you love, it isn't really necessary to advance in rating or skill level. Play solid, do not play for tricks unless you KNOW they work, and let your opponent attack you while you happily defend down to a won endgame.

No piece of advice is going to work for everyone, I'm simply relaying what worked for me! Also, video lectures on openings really accelerated my play. Chesslecture.com, chessbase lectures, etc. I even wrote an article on them, if ya want to check it out!

Chess Video Lectures: Are They for You? - Associated Content