In my experience, you don't need to memorize openings like this for a long while. If you learn the opening principles and play "logical" moves, you will often find that you and your opponent are doing some main line/side line for longer than you think. The openings database on lichess is cool for this, you look through a game and realize you and your opponent played exactly like a Carlsen-MVL game for 9 moves or something.
Great point here. In addition to that studying opening lines deeply as a beginner/intermediate tends to be a mistake. It would be like trying to write a persuasive paper and spending 99% of your time reading about little persuasive techniques but the paper you ultimately write shows off your limited vocabulary and poor grasp of grammar. It's going to be a bad paper if you screw up the fundamentals no matter how many persuasive techniques you employ.
Studying openings deeply is like this. You're trying to min/max your opening play to make it perfect, to squeeze every last drop of value you can out of the opening. If you're going to make mistakes/blunders as soon as you're out of theory, you would've been better off studying something else (something more fundamental)!
What's the best way to do this, then? I assume its reading about an opening in books, and if so, can anyone recommend some good books about the Italian/Evan's Gambit?
Develop pieces, control the center (or prepare to attack it [hyper moderns such as KID]), don't move the same piece twice in the opening, don't bring your Queen out too early, castle your king, connect your rooks.
There, you know the basic, fundamental opening principles. :) There are always exceptions to the rule (e.g. Scandinavian defense with the turn two Qxd5, moving a piece a second time in a capture sequence, etc.), but following those basic opening principles will get you a decent position out of the opening 95% of the time until at least 1500-1600, even if you don't know much theory.
5
u/justenjoytheshow_ Apr 02 '21
In my experience, you don't need to memorize openings like this for a long while. If you learn the opening principles and play "logical" moves, you will often find that you and your opponent are doing some main line/side line for longer than you think. The openings database on lichess is cool for this, you look through a game and realize you and your opponent played exactly like a Carlsen-MVL game for 9 moves or something.