Should you study openings?

Learning chess openings is something most players and coaches have conflicting opinions about. Download my annotated repertoires:   / shop   Play them out against a sparring partner: Caro for black: https://go.noctie.ai/caro-kann-for-black Spanish for white: https://go.noctie.ai/ruy-lopez-white Sicilian for black: https://go.noctie.ai/sicilian-black I get asked all the time whether I spend a lot of time on openings. I don't. What I do spend time on is learning ideas in various structures. So, technically, that's strategy and not opening study. What I do, however, is prepare for specific games during a tournament, and I also play positions from my opening repertoire in many training games. Instead of memorizing lines, I focus on learning by doing.