How do people remember all these lines?

This is so frustrating. I feel like I cant improve because I can't learn openings well. I feel like there's an approach that I'm over looking or something.

I noticed most people can use databases, but I just get information overload with databases.

The majority of my lost games are lost right in the opening.
By the time I make it to the middle game, I'm already in a losing position.

If I study one line, Ill get a game or two with it and it works for me, and the all of a sudden, I'm paired with people who play the EXACT line or opening that perfectly refutes what I'm playing. Or I'm just not properly studied on the responses that I should play to their opening and I just lose right out of the opening.

Ive hired chess coaches, I'm a premium member of Chess.com, I watch opening trainings, I watch 1-2 hours of chess every night before I go to bed for the last 7 years... Ive tried and failed at database studying.

When I hire coaches, they just open a database and start saying a bunch of notion and lose me right away.

HOW TF am I supposed to remember all these damn lines?!

Please don't give me the BS answers about "Don't remember the openings, focus on understanding the opening themes."
That's BS.

When I watch these Super GM's play, they say are trying to RECALL from memory the correct moves.
They say things, like "this is the correct response to this" or "I cant remember what goes next", or "some GM played this [move] in response to this [move ] in some random tournament 25 years ago."

HOW do these people do this?

I'm not a nerd. Do I just need to accept that only chess nerds (people who get pleasure from discussing opening variations for fun) can learn this?

I'm a bible history nerd, not a chess nerd. I can remember and quote bible verses and historical references the way super Gms remember and quote lines and variations.

Is my brain just wired differently?
Is there an approach for people who think and learn like me?

just play Italian, easiest opening to learn

@DontShadowBan said in #1:
> ...cut
> HOW TF am I supposed to remember all these damn lines?!
>...cut
> I'm a bible history nerd, not a chess nerd. I can remember and quote bible verses and historical references the way super Gms remember and quote lines and variations.

How did you go about remembering those bible verses and historical references? Can the methods that you used for that, transfer to chess?

From what I've seen, people that can remember chess opening lines, spend a lot of time on them, one way or another. They not only know what the moves are, but also why those moves are played. All sorts of memory tie-ins for that, including important games where those openings were played.

The Italian game you will get only once in three games on average (other games will include 2 knights defence, Traxler counterattack, Schilling-Kostic gambit and more, all of them are minefields you must know them or you will get outplayed in a few moves). It is a memorisation nightmare.

Try London instead.

#2 that's to say if you play the boring line italian (four knights variation where everyone falls asleep), but if you play giuoco piano or fried liver there's actually theory and it's actually fun

" I'm paired with people who play the EXACT line or opening that perfectly refutes what I'm playing."

This also happens when I play unrated games with 1300-1400 rated opponents who know better than those 1600-1700 in rated pool how to defend my gambit openings but then in a totally simple middlegame position suddenly they drop a rook or queen and disconnect. It's a cheaters/troll parade.

@DontShadowBan said in #1:
> ... I feel like I cant improve because I can't learn openings well. ... When
> I watch these Super GM's play, they say are trying to RECALL from
> memory the correct moves. ... HOW do these people do this? ...

Part of the issue is a matter of some openings being better for professionals and some being better for amateurs:
"... the most complicated variations demand huge amounts of time for home analysis, time available only to professional chess players. ..." - GM Lajos Portisch (1974)
Even professionals can find the best choices to be a daunting challenge:
"... There is no doubt in my mind that if you really want to test the Sicilian then you have to play the main lines of the Open Sicilian. The problem is that there are just so many of them ... and keeping up with developments in all of them is a substantial task. ... as you become older, with other demands on your time (family, job, etc.) then it becomes more and more difficult to keep up with everything. At this stage it may make sense to reduce your theoretical overhead by adopting one of the 'lesser' lines against the Sicilian: 2 c3, or the Closed Sicilian, or lines with Bb5. ..." - GM John Nunn (2005)
The Portisch advice:
"... to all players I can recommend the following: simplicity and economy. These are the characteristics of the opening systems of many great masters. They do not strain unduly for advantages in the opening; they would just as soon move on to the next phase of the game, hoping their skill will overcome the opponent in the middlegame or endgame. ..." - GM Lajos Portisch (1974)
There are degrees to which one can follow that sort of advice:
"... As a first step in mastering the Ruy Lopez, you need a solid, simple repertoire that will allow you to play practice games with your new opening without fearing nasty surprises. ... 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 d3 ... This should be by far the most common position you reach after 3 Bb5. Until, that is, you feel ready to branch out from 5 d3 to other, sharper variations. ..." - GM Neil McDonald (2011)
Alternatively:
"... Alekhine advised beginners not to play the [Ruy Lopez]. We also recommend you get some experience first by playing relatively simple openings - the Scotch and Italian games - and only then move on to the Spanish one. ..." - Journey to the Chess Kingdom by Yuri Averbakh and Mikhail Beilin
Or one can be even more cautious:
"... teachers all over the world suggest that inexperienced players begin with 1 e4. ... Of course, you can also play 1 d4 ... A solid and more-or-less universal set-up is 2 Nf3 and 3 Bf4, followed in most cases by 4 e3, 5 Be2 and 6 0-0. I'd rather see my students fight their way through open positions instead; however, if you're not getting out of the opening alive after 1 e4, this method of playing 1 d4 deserves consideration. ..." - IM John Watson (2010)
It seems to be generally believed that increasing safety decreases the degree to which the game is likely to be instructive:
"... A beginner should avoid the Queen's Gambit ... and play open games instead! While he may not win as many games at first, he will in the long run be amply compensated by acquiring a thorough knowledge of the game. ..." - Richard Reti (~1929)
www.amazon.com/Masters-Chessboard-21st-Century-Richard/dp/1936490218
It is tempting to try to learn everything in advance, but opening mistakes are a part of chess and one has to accept the necessity to experience them and gradually improve.
"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)
web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf
I think that this quote gives the basic idea for learning about a specific opening:
"... The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)
In a nutshell, pick up what you can from quickly looking over some instructive games (skipping a lot of the details). Then use your own games as a guide for where to learn more. I once wasted a lot of time, reading about the position after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 6 e3 e6 7 Bxc4 Bb4 8 O-O O-O 9 Qe2, only to realize (eventually) that the position never arose in any of my games.

@DontShadowBan said in #1:
>Please don't give me the BS answers about "Don't remember the openings, focus on understanding the opening themes."
>That's BS.

But that sounds completely reasonable and rational. Why is it BS?

@DontShadowBan said in #1:
> ... If I study one line, Ill get a game or two with it and it works for me, and
> the all of a sudden, I'm paired with people who play the EXACT line or opening
> that perfectly refutes what I'm playing. ... I watch opening trainings, I watch
> 1-2 hours of chess every night before I go to bed for the last 7 years ...

I do not know what you have been watching, but you should be warned that there are unscrupulous individuals who will suggest ideas that will leave you in a bad position if your opponent knows what to do. Probably, the most famous example is 1 e4 e5 2 Qh5. You want to try to avoid that sort of thing.

When you are saying "people" you are mentioning GMs ... I remember watching Kolty do a Knight Tour Blindfolded with numbers & names on each square ... I cannot ... When you as a 1600 player right now say you NEED to know everything about the Openings it's possible you CAN learn alot but YES by a different MEANS/WAY ... You NEED to study COMPLETE GAMES & Your own games . I would say play through games in a Informator say game 1 then game 11 then game 22 33 44 55 all the way through to be EXPOSED to the many different Endings Middlegames & Openings . Study Play Play Study