How important is it really to learn openings? Some say they aren't for beginners but I feel they matter.

There are some people who say openings don't matter, including one famous GM on Youtube, and some people say they are important.

Theoretically if you can calculate ahead and recognize patterns, you probably don't really need to know openings. Unless maybe at professional competitive level you do because smallest advantages mean something.

But for beginners? I do get it that it's better to work on your calculation than mindless memorize ten moves but at the same time I guess I feel like they are important because you make a mistake in the opening and can be hard to recover. I just played a game where my pieces basically suffocated to death because I had nowhere to move and I realized how my opponent were following an opening and a few inaccurate moves by me (no blunders) and then I panicked and made things worse.

Where do you stand on this?

submitted by /u/phantom-ego
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